Once upon a phone call
by boerwina
Summary: Penelope recieves and unexpected phone call and her life is about to change in a major way! Follow the BAU family as they navigate relationships, parenting and life. Penelope/Morgan, Hotch/Emily, Dave/JJ, Reid/OC. AU
1. Chapter 1

"Hello? Yes, this is she. . ."

"_Ms. Garcia, my name is Jennifer Hurtado. I am Maggie Hoffmans Attorney. Maggie Hoffman came to me to have her will drawn up. In the unfortunate event of her passing, she has named you the executor of her will. I regret to inform you that Mrs. Hoffman passed this morning."_

"Maggie. . . Oh my god." Penelope sunk to the floor with the phone still in her hand as the tears streamed down her face.

"_Are you able to come to San Diego to look over some paperwork?" _

"Yes. When should I fly in?" Penelope took a few deep breaths to try and get her bearings.

"_Our office can be ready for you as early as tomorrow morning."_

After doing some quick calculations in her head, Penelope told the woman on the phone that she would be there. After getting directions and a phone number for the office, Penelope climbed in the shower, turned on the water full blast and let the tears fall.

Derek hadn't planned on going over to Penelope's apartment on this rare Saturday morning off but as it happened, he was climbing the stairs up to her apartment with coffee and croissants in his hand, he hear d faint sobs coming from her apartment. Quickening his pace he paused at the door and listened closely as he fished his keys out of his pocket. Selecting the right key and silently inserting it into the lock, he called her name quietly as he turned the knob and pushed the door open. Hearing the shower going, he headed toward the bathroom.

Penelope had run out of tears to cry. Maggie and Penelope had been best friends since they sat next to each other in the 4th grade. First boy crushes, sneaking out, graduating high school. They had even gone to the same college. 6 years ago, Penelope was the maid of honor for Maggie and Maggie had sworn that she would return the favor when it was Penelope's turn to walk down the aisle. Now, she would never get the chance. For two of Maggie's children, Penelope was one of her birthing coaches and she was godmother to all 5 children. They were more like sisters instead of best friends. Penelope reached over and turned off the water. She climbed out of the shower and wrapped her towel tightly around her body.

"Penelope?" Derek called out again.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Penelope asked as she opened the door of the bathroom and stepped into the hallway.

"I just stopped by to bring you coffee and a croissant. I didn't know what your plans were for the day, I thought we could spend it together." Derek came down the hallway and saw the pain reflecting in Penelope's eyes. "Awww. Baby girl, what's wrong?"

"Derek. It's awful. Maggie, and" she broke down in tears again. He enveloped her in his arms and rocked her where they stood. After Penelope had exhausted herself again, Derek tucked her in bed and sat next to her.

After Penelope managed to explain everything to him, Derek looked at her sternly and asked, "Baby, I'm coming with you. You know that right?" He wiped away a few stray tears that had worked their way down to her chin.

"Derek. I can do this myself. I'm sure you have something to take care of. It's our first weekend off in 2 months."

"Baby, I came here to see if I could spend the day with you. Get some sleep. I'll call the airlines and see if I can get us a flight out to San Diego today. Then we can go to the lawyer first thing tomorrow morning and we can see where we stand."

"Derek Morgan, I love you. You know that?"

"Love you too Princess. Get some sleep." He kissed her temple and shut the lamp. Effectively cutting off communication and Penelope drifted off into sleep.

An hour later after securing them both flights to San Diego, calling Hotch and telling him they would both need the next week off and getting the other man's promise that the paperwork would be filed, Derek went to check on Penelope. He found her sitting up in bed making a list.

"Hey Baby. What are you doing?"

"Making a list of things I have to talk to the lawyer about. Did you know Maggie has, had 5 kids?"

"No I didn't. How old are they?"

"Noah is 5, Lilly is 3, Grace and Ethan are 14 months and Olivia is only 3 weeks old. God, Derek. They are so little. Who's going to take care of them?"

"I don't know baby. We can call the lawyer now, she probably has the answers you are looking for. It's only 11 am in California and we don't have to leave for the airport for another hour or so."

"Will you get me her number from the kitchen?"

Derek nodded and left the room to get the phone number. When Derek came back in, Penelope smiled her thanks and dialed the number. Waiting for it to ring, she said to Derek, "If you want to go watch tv or something, go ahead hot stuff."

"Okay mama. Promise me you will call for me if you need me."

"I promise hot stuff. Now go." She playfully swatted at him as Ms. Hurtado answered her phone.

"_Jennifer Hurtado."_

"Hello, Ms. Hurtado. This is Penelope Garcia. You called me this morning about my friend Maggie Hoffman?"

"_Of course, what can I help you with Ms. Garcia?"_

"Well, I've already booked a flight that lands in San Diego later today. I was just coming up with some questions and I was wondering if you could answer them for me."

"_I will do my best. However if they pertain to the will, I can't open that without you being present and they will have to wait for our meeting."_

"Where are Maggie's children? I know she didn't have any family. Did Thomas?"

"_Maggie's children are currently being taken care of at their house by a family friend. As far as I know, Thomas also didn't have any family. Maggie and Thomas listed a guardian for all of their children in their will."_

"I will be in San Diego by 3:30 is there any way we can have our meeting this afternoon?"

"_Of course Ms. Garcia, that will not be a problem. I can send a car to the airport that can bring you to your hotel first to freshen up and then it can bring you to the office for 4:30 for our meeting."_

"That sounds perfect. Ms. Hurtado. Thank you for all of your help. I will see you later today."

"_Have a safe flight. See you soon."_

"Thank you. Good bye." Penelope hung up the phone and went to go find Derek. "I pushed up the meeting to this afternoon at 4:30. Are you sure you want to come Hot stuff?"

"What did I tell you woman? You aren't getting rid of me. So can you please get that idea through that hard head of yours and just go get your gorgeous butt packed?" Derek came to a stop right in front of her and Penelope looked up at him. He saw pain reflected back at him and he just wanted it to go away even if only for a second. So he kissed her softly on the lips. Just a little comforting kiss between friends. What he wasn't counting on was the spark that was lit between them. Or how Penelope would kiss him back.

Penelope couldn't explain what had come over her, one minute her and Derek are flirting as usual and then suddenly their hands are all over each other and they are clinging to each other as if they are essential to each other as air.

Derek came to his senses first. "Baby Girl." "Penelope." "We have to stop."

"No. No stopping. It feels so good."

Her words almost spurred him to keep going but they really had to get to the airport. "Baby Girl, we can continue at the airport. We don't want to miss our flight."

"Flight." "Oooh. God. Maggie." "I'm such a horrible friend. How can I even think about how much I want you in my bed when Maggie is d..dead?" She broke out in tears again and Derek enveloped her in his arms and gently rocked her for a minute or so. "Baby girl, why don't you sit here and just calm down a little. I will go pack you an overnight bag and we can leave for the airport okay." She nodded and he was almost out of earshot when she called out to him again.

"Morgan?"

"Yeah, Baby."

"What happened between us? Did you feel it too? Or was it just me being emotional?"

"Oh baby. It happened and it will happen again. Mark my words we are nowhere near being finished yet. But for now, I'm going to help you take care of this and then we can work on an us. Okay?"

"Okay. I love you Derek Morgan."

"And I love you Penelope Garcia."

After successfully arriving at the airport, checking their luggage, boarding their plane and their plane taking off, Penelope and Derek decided it was a good time to talk a little about what happened in her apartment.

"I'm sorry I jumped you like that Derek. You are just being a good friend and I let my emotions take control." Penelope looked at Derek and she smiled. "At least you know you are hot, right?" she joked a little.

"I was beginning to think my charms didn't work on you." He smirked at her. "I'm glad they work on you. You are the only woman I ever wanted them to work on anyway."

"Yeah right. That's why all the women I've ever seen you with are my exact opposites."

"Well, if I have to have a substitute, it better look like an exact opposite of what I want."

"Really?"

"Really." Derek was quiet for a minute letting the knowledge that he had wanted her for years sink in. "Look baby girl, I know you are dealing with a lot right now. I'm not going anywhere. I've waited 6 years for my chance, no way am I going to get impatient now."

"I'm just shocked. I always thought you didn't see me like that. I always thought Derek Morgan liked tall, skinny, dark haired women."

"Baby Girl, Derek Morgan only wants the Penelope Garcia brand of women and there is only one of them in the entire world."

"Derek. I know that I'm not in any emotional state to deal with the ramifications of this conversation right now but I don't want to wait. I think we waited 6 years to be together and Maggie was just torn from her life and her children are left without their mother. I don't want to waste another minute. I love you Derek Morgan. I really love you."

"That's good mama. Cuz, woman, you've had my heart since day one." He lightly kissed her on the lips.

"That's all you got?" Penelope teased him.

"We are on an airplane Princess. I'll show you some real magic when we get to our hotel room." He pulled her close and kissed her again before raising the arm rest between them and pulling her into his side. As she snuggled close, he kissed her hair and settled his head back to rest his eyes for a bit.

Derek had scored them two of the last seats on a nonstop flight into San Diego so when they felt the plane begin to descend they knew they were closing in on their destination.

"I'm scared." Penelope whispered to Derek.

"It will be okay baby. You and I can tackle anything together. And I will be there, right next to you, every step of the way." Derek looped their fingers together and brought her hand to his lips and he kissed her knuckles. "You don't doubt us right?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, hot stuff, I don't think there exists something that can tear us apart. I love you."

"I love you too baby girl. Let's get this stuff sorted and then we can relax together in the big hotel bed."

"Just relaxing? Is that really all you have in mind?"

"Mind out of the gutter Garcia" He chuckled. "We can consider other activities once we are done with the lawyer."

"Thanks for coming hot stuff."

"I offered. Now stop thanking me before I spank you."

"Promise?" she asked with smirk.

"Is there anything that you won't relate to sex" he wondered aloud while pulling her close to kiss her again as the plane made contact with the runway.

They found their luggage and their driver was waiting for them at the gate with a sign that read "Garcia". Derek had booked them a hotel room with a big comfy king sized bed and after quickly changing their clothes and freshening up, they headed back down to the lobby to meet with the lawyer.

Jennifer Hurtado was a nervous wreck. She currently had 5 children under the age of 6 in her conference room. The family friend who was watching the Hoffman children had been called away on a family medical emergency and her staff was handling their own cases and meetings all day. Out of desperation, she had asked her secretary to watch over the children so she could conduct her own meeting with Penelope Garcia, the legal guardian of the children. She had wheeled in an old tv from the break room and wired an old computer to play a tv show for the two older children and the younger 3 thankfully had bottles to drink in the bag that was packed by the latest babysitter but poor Megan was on her own until Jennifer can successfully convince Ms. Garcia to take the 5 home with her today. The sooner the better, honestly, who is equipped to deal with 5 children of that age?

Penelope and Derek took seats that were offered to them and each shook the hand of Jennifer Hurtado.

"Let's get right to it, shall we? I'm going to audio record this meeting for transcript purposes later. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine with me." Penelope answered and when Derek nodded his agreement, Jennifer turned the device on and started her meeting.

"Thank you for coming in Penelope Garcia. As I mentioned on the phone earlier today, Maggie Hoffman listed you as the executor of her will. This includes the inheritance of her house on Willis Lane, her three cars, various investments and she has also listed you as the guardian for the children."

"I understand the financial things, I was the closest thing that she had to family but are you sure I'm supposed to be their guardian?"

"That was what Mrs. Hoffman desired, yes."

"I don't think you understand. I can't cook, I kill every plant I try to keep alive and my fish die the day I bring them home. I'm not meant to be a parent."

"Well, if you don't wish to fulfill the "position" if you will, the kids will be placed in foster care and there is a pretty good chance they will be split up. Not many families have the financial or emotional resources to care for 5 children."

"Can I take a minute here?" Penelope looked at Derek. "I think we need to talk."

"Why don't you take a few minutes to yourself and think things through. I need to check on my secretary."

"Is she ill?" Penelope wondered.

"No. She's actually with Maggie's children downstairs. They were being cared for by a family friend but she got called away on a medical emergency and the first place she thought to bring them was here."

"Can I see them?" Penelope asked.

"Sure." As the three of them made their way to the elevator, Penelope tugged on Derek's hand and pulled him to the side a little while they were waiting for the elevator. "I understand if you need to back away for a little while Derek."

"Do you want me to stay up here while you go visit with the kids? Do _you_ need _me_ to back away for a minute?" He asked as his hands ran up and down her back in a soothing pattern.

"I don't want to do this alone." She admitted in a quiet voice only meant for his ears.

"Then baby, you won't be alone." Derek said and he pulled her face up to look him in the eyes before continuing. "Let's go meet these kids."

Meanwhile, poor Megan hadn't planned on taking care of so many children when she had dressed for work that morning. Her $85 blouse, a present from her boyfriend was currently covered in two large spit up trails, courtesy of the littlest one. Her dress pants had somehow gotten a rip in the seam and she now had a gaping hole on the bottom half of her right leg and one of the twins had torn off their diaper and there was a few foot prints that appeared to suspiciously resemble poop. She was NOT, I repeat, NOT under any circumstances going to investigate that one further! No way. So needless to say, when Megan heard voices approaching the conference room, she threw a joyous Hallelujah! to the heavens above and quickly went into the hallway to meet her saviors.


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks so much for reviewing, reading and alerting! I really appreciate the feedback. I'm a nanny so trust me when I say that a person can handle 5 children of that age, it just won't be easy Kids have a tendency to make a mess of anything they can reach and while I absolutely love my job (I watch 6 kids all under the age of 5.) I completely realize that the job isn't for everyone, sometimes I even doubt it's for me. . . lol anyway, the point of this note was just to thank everyone for reading, reviewing and alerting my story.

CHAPTER 2:

Penelope came to an abrupt stop when she saw the harried woman come into the hallway in front of them. She looked up at Derek who also looked a bit disturbed by the frantic look in the woman's eyes and her overall disheveled appearance.

"Megan? Where are the children?" Jennifer asked her as she approached the stricken secretary.

"They're in the conference room. I just couldn't stay in there for another minute. There are so many of them and they throw up and cry and throw up some more. I'm going home." Megan shook her head a little as if to shake loose the memory of the last 20 minutes of her life and she hastily made her way towards the elevator.

"Well then. Let's go meet with the children." Jennifer said kindly, choosing to ignore her employee's behavior for the moment. Penelope and Derek looked anxiously in the direction of the room Megan had just left as their feet shuffled forward.

When Penelope reached the door, she reached for Derek's hand and squeezed it tightly as she took a deep breath and entered the room. Derek had no hesitation in his movements. His heart had made the decision for him a long time ago. Wherever Penelope went, he went. No questions asked and no second thoughts allowed.

The room was in pandemonium. One of the children didn't have a diaper on, Penelope thought it was Ethan. Olivia, the littlest was asleep in her carrier. Noah and Lilly were running around trying to catch one another and Grace was sitting in the middle of the floor with tears streaming down her face as she sobbed loudly. Penelope went to Grace and scooped her up and walked quickly to one of the office chairs and started to work on calming her down. Derek captured, the diaper-less Ethan and successfully cleaned and freshly diapered him. He also found the previously discarded diaper and cleaned up that (and the soiled foot). Ten minutes later, things were looking up. Grace had fallen asleep in Penelope's arms and Ethan, Noah and Lilly were coloring on paper and the three adults sat around the conference table and quietly resumed their conversation from upstairs.

"Well, as I was saying upstairs, if you choose to waive your rights, the children will be put into the foster care system. Odds are they would be separated, very few placements exist that can take 5 children. As for some of the more financial responsibilities Mrs. Hoffman has left to you Ms. Garcia, there is the deed of the house. The house is almost completely paid off. There is about $25,000 left on the mortage. The 3 cars that were registered to her name are all paid off and she had purchased some savings bonds for the children that can be transferred to your name."

"Is there paperwork that I can sign for the financial things?"

"Of course, I'll go get them from my office."

"Thank you Ms. Hurtado." Penelope said as Jennifer got up from her chair and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. As soon as the door shut, Penelope looked at Derek. "Derek, I know you didn't sign up for this and I know that I am in no way prepared to take care of these kids but I can't let them be split up. Maggie was like my sister and I don't want to lose you or push you away here but I really don't think I can sign these kids-"Derek gently put a finger to her lips and shushed her.

"Baby girl, if you stopped talking 5 minutes ago," Derek smiled at her before continuing. "You are the only person that I can even imagine a future with P. These kids need a home, with parents who love them. I want to be the person who does it with you. I want to stay up all night because one of the kids is sick and I want to coach little league and bring the kids to school every morning. I only want those things with you Penelope, and I know things between us are going fast and I don't think either of us planned on any of this when we woke up this morning but were here now. Life dealt us this hand and I want to see it through." Derek finished with his speech and gave Penelope a minute to let his words sink in a little. His head snapped straight at the sound of the baby crying from her carrier. Penelope looked at him with a little bit of panic in her face. "I've got it baby girl." Derek rose from his seat and walked briskly toward the carrier. He unstrapped Olivia and quietly hummed to her as he found the formula and a bottle filled with water in the diaper bag. "Come on Princess. It's okay. I'm gonna make it all better sweetheart." Derek gently laid the baby in his lap and quickly measured out the required amount of powder to make a four ounce bottle. After shaking it and guiding the bottle to the baby's hungry mouth, he looked at Penelope.

"You're good at that." She murmured quietly to him.

"I had a lot of cousins growing up. My mom didn't believe caring for babies was just for girls."

"I knew I always liked your mom."  
"She will be glad to hear that all of her lessons weren't in vain." His comment brought the conversation back to the current issue at hand.

"Derek. I don't want a future with anyone else either. I didn't realize it then but every guy I've went out with for the last 6 years, I was comparing to you." She paused for a moment and shook her head and gently chuckled. "They didn't stand a chance. I've always loved you Derek. I just hadn't realized that I was _in_ love with you. I know this is fast but I guess it really isn't. You are my best friend Derek. I would never even think of trying to do this with anyone else. But Derek, I'm scared. I'm scared for these kids, for us. What about the team? Where would we live? How are we going to do this? There are just so many questions and I don't have any of the answers and these kids need answers, they need stability." She stopped talking and looked at him. "I want you to know that I would never even_ think_ of trying to raise children with anyone else. Even though it's you and me we are talking about, I'm afraid."

"I'm scared too Baby girl. But, I know in my heart that we can do this together. The question here really is, will you let me do this with you? Will you let me adopt the kids too?"

AUTHORS NOTE: I'm already working on the next chapter! Please let me know what you would like to see and what you think of the story so far. Up next: paperwork gets signed and the funeral


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHORS NOTE: hey guys, thanks for sticking with me so far on this journey. I originally intended for this chapter to be only a couple thousand words long and it ended up at almost five thousand instead. I tackled some pretty heavy emotional stuff in this chapter. I hope to be able to write some fluff for the next chapter which will probably be posted this weekend! Hope you like it!**

As Penelope registered what her best friend had suggested, her heart had stopped racing and, for the first time since receiving that phone call, she was almost calm. "Derek, do you mean it? Do you really want to do this with me? Because, I'm talking about forever here. This can't be a part time situation and you can't change your mind a month or two in. It's not fair to the kids and I honestly am not sure if I could stand watching you walk away. You're my best friend Derek. I don't know what I would do without you. If you think it might be too much to handle, walk away right now. No hard feelings, we can go back to being-"

"Hey, hard head," Derek interrupted Pen. "Do you know that I loved you from the moment I saw you?" He knelt in front of her with Olivia still in his arms, happily drinking her bottle. "You turned around, ready to give me hell for the baby girl comment and your eyes were completely filled with mischief and woman, my heart fell out of my chest and onto the floor. I've never felt like that with anyone before. My heart knew you were the one for me before my brain did. I'm sorry for those 6 years of wasted time. We could have been together and instead, I was chasing all the girls that looked nothing like you simply, out of fear. I was afraid to try anything with you because you were too real. Woman, you still scare me half the time. I can't ever tell exactly where you're head is at and it keeps me on my toes." He smiled at her and placed the baby on his shoulder and started rubbing her back before continuing. "Baby girl, I know we've only been together for a day or so but I've loved you since that first day in the middle of the bullpen. I love you and even if you say no, we can just continue on the path we are on and can pretend this never happened."

"Derek, what are you talking about?" Pen asked curiously as she watched him place a now content Olivia in her carrier and dug in his pocket and knelt in front of Penelope again.

"I love you more than words can express Penelope Annabelle Garcia. Now God has given us these wonderful children to take care of. I'm done wasting time Pen. I've been carrying this thing around with me for years, trying to work up the courage to ask you out. To get the courage to take this leap. Baby girl, I want to be with you for the rest of my life and I want the rest of the world to know how we feel about each other." He pulled a jewelry box from his pocket and opened it to Penelope's stunned gaze. "Will you marry me?"

Penelope froze. _What the hell is he doing? _She thought to herself. _Do I love him? Well, yeah. I've loved Derek Morgan since the day I met him. Was it that kind of love though? _Penelope thought about how she felt when she was with Derek. _Protected, cherished, complete and loved. _She thought about the years of dreams she had. _She and Derek getting married, having children, buying a house, getting a dog._ She had always thought when he said he loved her that he was referring to a friend love, like I-would-go-absolutely-crazy-if-I-didn't-have-you-to-talk-to-love. Never in a million years would Penelope Garcia have dreamed that Derek Morgan was actually in love with her. And had she realized the truth at any moment before here and now, she would have jumped at the chance to be with him. So what was stopping her now? Fear. The answer was as clear as day. Penelope Garcia was afraid of trying to make it work with Derek because if it didn't work, if they weren't compatible, if he got bored, if he changed his mind, if they drove each other crazy, there were so many ifs and so many reasons to run scared. _Okay Pen. I know you are scared but that man kneeling in front of you is Derek Morgan. He's your best friend, you know him so well, if you are going to take a chance on anyone, it better be him. Your heart knew who you weren't meant to be with that very first day in the bullpen, just like he fell for you. Logically, yeah, it makes sense to be scared but you can't hide your feeling from him anymore. If you walk away from him, it will make him fall apart. Do you really want to hurt him like that? _Once Penelope had asked herself that final question, she realized she had come up with her answer.

Derek felt like he was in hell. He formed the question in his head and said it aloud to Penelope Garcia, the woman of his dreams and so far, she hadn't moved a muscle. She had this, almost panicked look to her eyes. Her back was ramrod straight, her eyes were looking straight ahead, fixed on some point on the wall behind him and her right foot was twitching on the floor. Derek's heart was in his stomach. He'd been nervous before, facing down a suspect with a loaded gun or driving an ambulance with a bomb ready to go off, was bound to give a person some practice with feeling the telltale signs of nervousness. But Derek Morgan had never felt like this in his life. He felt as if someone had shown him the pathway to get to heaven and then locked the door and destroyed the key. What if Pen actually said no? Could he bottle up what he was currently feeling? He would have to. A future without any form of Penelope was simply not an option. As he looked up into her face, he noticed her looking at him with slightly watery eyes.

"Baby Girl?" he asked cautiously.

"Hot stuff, I'm sorry." She paused and took in a shaky breath before continuing. "I'm sorry that I let us waste 6 years of potential happiness. But I sure as hell will not be responsible for making us waste another second. I love you Derek Morgan, I love you possibly more than anyone has ever loved anyone else. You're everything to me, you're my best friend and my partner in crime and I would love to be your wife." Penelope waited for him to process what she said.

"For real?"

"For real."

"God, I love you woman."

"I love you too Handsome."

As the happy couple shared a passionate kiss, they were mindful of the sleeping child in Pen's lap and the other four also still in the room. As they slowly broke apart, Jennifer Hurtado returned to the room with the paperwork for Pen to sign.

"Ms. Hurtado?" Derek waited for her to look at him before continuing. "How would I go about adopting the children as well?"

"Mr. Morgan, the children will be filed under Ms. Garcia's guardianship and then once the adoption becomes finalized, you could petition the court to be a co-parent with Ms. Garcia."

"What if we are married?"

"Are you married? I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you were single, Ms. Garcia."  
"Technically yes, we are still single but we are going to get married."  
"Unless you were planning on getting married by Wednesday, I would say the best bet is to let Ms. Garcia adopt the children as per the will dictates and then at a later date, you could file your own adoption paperwork."

"What do you think baby girl? Think we can get the team out here by Wednesday?"

"I don't want to get married on the same day that I have to say goodbye to Maggie. Since the funeral is Sunday, we can get married on Tuesday and then adopt the kids in the official court ceremony on Wednesday. I almost feel guilty when I think that Maggie is gone but, I know she would have hit me for thinking like that."

"I knew I always liked Maggie." Derek said with a smile.

"She always liked you too. She always was bugging me to take a chance with you. She saw what we had even before we did."

"No offense here baby girl, but I think even strangers saw what we didn't see."

"That is sadly true hot stuff. Sadly true. Can you call the team and fill them in? Well actually just the boys, I have to be the one to tell Em and JJ. They will never let me hear the end of it if I don't."

"Sure Baby girl. I'll go call them now." As he moved to step out into the hallway, Pen called out his name and when he turned to look at her, he was rewarded with a thousand watt smile. "Thanks for asking me Derek."

"Thanks for saying yes Baby."

Derek went into the hall to make a few phone calls to let Hotch, Dave and Reid of the recent developments and to see if they could make it to San Diego for a wedding in three days.

"Ms. Garcia, since Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman didn't have any other family, they also have left the burial decisions to you. Do you want a joint wake?"

"Maggie and Tom would have wanted to stay together. Yes, we should do both wakes at the same time and place."

"Okay. I will let them know. Also, both places of work have been notified and everyone is invited to the wake and funeral services. Maggie also included a list of friends and neighbors that she wished be contacted, our office has taken the liberty of letting them know of the time and locations of the services as well. I'd like to take a moment here and offer my condolences to you. I'm very sorry for your loss and I'd like you to know that our office will be here to provide any help we can to you in this time of need."

"Thank you Ms. Hurtado. We will actually be needing transportation from here to the Hoffman house. Derek and I will be taking the children back there to begin packing up some things and we will continue to care for the children there."

"That can certainly be arranged."  
"Thank you."

"Not a problem, Ms. Garcia. I will go make a few phone calls and get the wheels in motion. Also, Mrs. Hoffman had written a letter to you about a month ago and expressed her wishes that it be given to you should she pass unexpectedly. " After handing Penelope a simple manila envelope, she left the room. Grace started to stir on Penelope's lap after Penelope had placed the letter in her bag on the table.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" Pen asked kindly as she rubbed the little girls back.

"Mama?" She sleepily asked.

"No sweetie, I'm sorry. Your mama isn't here. It's Aunt Pen."

"Pen?"

"Yeah baby. It's just me."

"Otay. I pway?" The little girl asked, spotting her brothers and sister coloring in the corner.

"Yeah, go ahead munchkin. Have fun." Grace slid off of Pen's lap and onto the floor and happily joined her siblings. Derek came back in the room and made his way over to Penelope. She stood up and hastily went to meet him. They clung to each other for a few minutes, just trying to let their emotions settle and for their minds to catch up with their hearts.

"Derek?" Penelope asked as she still tightly clutched onto Derek's shirt and her face was buried in his chest.

"Yeah Baby Girl," he murmured from where his chin rested slightly on the top of her head.

"Are we ready for this?" she asked doubtfully.

"Honestly, probably not. I don't think anyone two people can ever be ready to have 5 kids placed in their laps. But I do know that we can do it together. We won't be alone either, as soon as my mom gets wind that there are children needing to be cared for, her butt will be on the first flight out of Chicago. Baby Girl, mark my words, my mother will need to be forced to leave eventually." He chuckled slightly.

"Well, she's coming for the wedding right? Maybe she can just come home with us."

"You're okay with my mother coming to live with us?"

"Derek, I missed out on time with my mom. I didn't get to learn all the things that mothers teach their daughters, and I'd really like to learn all I can from your mom."

"It's fine by me baby girl. I love you and I love my mom. I just didn't want you to feel surrounded by too many Morgans."

"Hmmph. Derek Morgan, you and I both know that your mother will side with me every time rather than side with you."  
"Very true Baby Girl. You are absolutely right."

"Alright Derek, as much as I'm loving being wrapped up in your arms right now, we should get the kids ready to go. Ms. Hurtado went to call for a ride to bring us and the kids back to their house for the night. I figured it would be easiest to just stay there for the night. We can start packing up some of the kids stuff, getting it ready to be shipped back to Quantico. Wait, D, what are we going to do about finding a place big enough for all of us? Both of our apartments are too small."

Derek slowly pulled back from their embrace to look at her in the eyes and kissed her lightly on the lips before continuing. "Baby girl, I called Matt when I was just in the hallway. You know how a couple months ago I mentioned that house we had just bought, the Victorian?" she nodded and he continued. "I called him to arrange the rest of the work be completed by Thursday of this week. It's really only some painting and finishing touches. There is a living room, dining room, kitchen, pantry and laundry room on the main level, full finished basement, and 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor and another 2 bedrooms with a shared bathroom upstairs. I figure the top floor can be used for my mom or sisters when they come to visit. The master bedroom on the main floor has a bathroom attached for us and the other three bedrooms on that floor can easily work for the kids. The boys can share a room, the two older girls can share a room and the baby can have the smallest bedroom which, coincidentally is attached to the master."

"That sounds perfect Derek. What colors did you go with?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when we looked at all of those pictures? I brought Indian food from your favorite restaurant and we picked out color schemes for all the pictures?"

"Yeah. Wait, that was for this house? Didn't you tell me Sarah had wanted my opinion on a house she was buying?"

"I lied." He said simply and kissed away the frown that had formed on her lips. "Baby girl, when I found this house, all I could think of was how amazing it would be to live in it with you and to raise a family in it with you. Being completely with you wasn't an option then so, I wanted the house to feel your presence in whatever way it could."

"How do you manage to be romantic even when you're not trying?" she asked.

"It's skill baby. Pure skill."

"Yeah, I'm sure." She answered dryly and kissed him passionately while he chuckled lightly.

THE NEXT MORNING:

_What the hell am I doing?_ Penelope thought to herself as her eyes slowly examined her face in the bathroom mirror. Derek was still snoring from the bed that they had both passed out in sometime after 2 am. They had stayed up late discussing everything, from living arrangements to how they were feeling about the speed of which their relationship was taking them. But, as Derek had pointed out earlier, they were practically dating for the past 6 years. The movie nights, the random dinner dates and the millions of coffee dates were testament to how well they knew one another. The only part that was new to them was the physical stuff, sure they had kissed as friends but never as anything more. They had both completely agreed that while, they both wanted to take the next step, they should wait a month or so to readjust to each other and the kids and their new life before adding in anything else. Which leads us to Penelope's current freak out moment in the mirror, the sun hadn't risen yet and the house was blissfully quiet. She tiptoed past Derek and quietly pulled the door shut behind her. She went down to the kitchen, sat at the diningroom table, the table that her best friend had sat at for years, and cried. She cried for her friend, she cried for the kids upstairs who would either not remember their mother or barely remember her. Out of fear and the anxiety of raising 5 children and losing her best friend in the same day, Penelope cried for herself. Eventually, she ran out of tears and continued to sob quietly at the table.

Derek heard her crying when he reached the top of the stairs, he had checked on the kids and all were sleeping peacefully. Since he hadn't found his baby girl in any of the kids rooms, he had decided to check downstairs. When he heard her crying, his first instinct was to go to her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Instead, he turned around and went back to their room and into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Penelope was a strong woman and she had to at least try to pull herself into the right mind set. Putting her back in place wasn't going to help her in the long run.

Penelope quietly drew her crying to a close. She rose from the table, took some paper towel and after wetting it at the faucet, patted at her face and put it on the back of her neck. As her eyes glanced over her bag, she saw the tip of an envelope peeking out and Penelope suddenly remembered being given her letter at the lawyer last night. Pulling it free from her bag, Pen threw out the paper towel and took a deep breath as she settled back into her chair. She opened the envelope and began to read.

_Dear Penelope,_

_If you are reading this, it means I have been taken from this world too soon and I haven't had the time to say goodbye to you in person. What do you say to the best friend a girl could have when you know this is the last thing she will ever read from you? Let me start with this, I love you. You are the most kind hearted and loving people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Thank you for being a part of my life and a part of my children's lives. By now I'm also assuming you will have met with my lawyer and learned of my plan to leave their care up to you. I'm sure you're wondering why I chose you and I guess the simple answer is that I wanted them to be raised by the person who is most like me, a person who will have a ton of stories to tell them and can tell them everyday how much I loved them. Tell them I'm sorry that I had to leave them before I was ready to. _

_I know you will be a fantastic mother to my kids Pen. You are the best person I know for the job. Trust your instincts, don't doubt yourself, enjoy every minute of life because you can't take any of it back. Remember 10__th__ grade when Bethany Harris slept with Michael? My god, I thought I was in love with him. You were so pissed that she had the nerve to sleep with him, you decided to hack into the school mainframe and make it look like she did it? She got suspended for 3 weeks and lost her spot on the cheerleading team and you only looked at me and said "Mags, I got your back." I believed that Pen, I never had to worry about my friends sleeping with my boyfriends again, you created a name for yourself. Penny-bear, you scared all of those girls senseless. It was a pleasure to be your best friend. I'm glad for the years we got to spend together, I'm sorry that we didn't get to make more memories. Hold on to the ones we did get to make, live life to the fullest and I'll see you on the other side. _

_Love, your best friend for life,_

_Mags_

Penelope placed the letter on the table with shaking fingers and looked up to the ceiling and closed her eyes. After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes slowly and spoke to the quiet room. "I loved you too Mags, and I will do the very best I can to give your kids all the love they deserve. I promise to live my life for the both of us." Penelope stood from the table, put the letter back in her bag and climbed the stairs to go find Derek.

Derek had exited the shower and was pulling on a shirt when Pen came back into the room. He saw tears coming down her face and quickly enveloped her in his embrace. He walked them slowly to the bed and pulled her down into his lap.

"Talk to me baby girl."

"I'm sad about Maggie but she wrote me a letter Derek. She really believed that I could do this. I'm starting to believe her."

"I believe in you Pen."

"Thanks Derek. I believe in us. I think we can do this together. I really think we can do this if we stick together."

"I'm in baby. I've been completely committed to this relationship since day one."

"I know handsome, my head takes a while to catch up to my heart."

"I waited for you."

"I know Hot stuff. I love you Derek."

"I love you too Pen."

The wake was scheduled for 6 pm that night. Pen arranged for a couple of the neighborhood girls to come watch the kids so Derek and Penelope could attend the services. Penelope expected to feel distraught and overwhelmed at the wake. She had prepared for the emotional onslaught and had even mapped out the quickest escape route to get back to the car. She was pleasantly surprised however to find that she was at peace with the entire thing. She had accepted that her best friend was gone from her life, that her friends 5 young children were now her children to care, protect and love and Penelope was completely calm. So at the funeral the next day, many of the people in attendance probably thought Penelope had lost her mind from grief. Instead of crying as she made her way up to the podium for her eulogy, Pen smiled at the memory of herself and Maggie getting ready for the prom and spending summers at the beach. She cleared her throat and looked out into the crowd as she began.

"Maggie was my best friend. We met each other many years ago and I can count on one hand the number of times we fought. I remember a summer when we were 15 or 16. We had both been unknowingly dating the same lifeguard down at the city pool. Initially, we both thought the other had been doing it on purpose. Maggie came to her senses first. She marched through my front door, up the stairs and parked her butt on my bed and refused to leave until we had talked out this issue between us. Boys, she insisted, were simply not worth the cost of our friendship. Nothing was worth our friendship Mags. I loved you so much. You are the sister that I wasn't born with but got to grow up with. I'm sorry that you had to leave us early, but I promise to live my life for the both of us. I'll make you proud Mags. I got your back." Penelope stepped away from the podium and stood back in her place next to Derek as Mark Doubet took his spot on the podium and began talking about Tom. Derek laced his fingers with her and gently applied pressure to convey solidarity with her and kissed the top of her head when she leaned into his shoulder. When the speeches were done and the priest had said his final words, Penelope and Derek slowly made their way back to their rental car they had picked up that morning.

"What are we going to tell the kids?"

"I have no idea. I don't want to break their hearts and make them even more confused than they already are but Noah and Lilly probably have a clue what is going on. Grace and Ethan are still young enough that we might be able to get by on little explanation for now."

"Do you want to talk to them when we get back to the house baby girl? Now is as good of a time as any and maybe Sarah and Allison can stay for another hour so we can talk to Noah and Lilly."

"Okay, I'll call the girls and see if they can stay." After confirming with the babysitters that they could stay another hour, the pair made their way into the house to break two children's little hearts.

They settled in the family room, the two children on Pen's lap and Derek sitting across from them in an armchair.

"Aunt Pen, why did Derek come with you this time? Is her your boyfriend?" Noah whispered in her ear with wide eyes.  
"Yeah baby. Derek is my boyfriend. See this ring?" She gestured to her left hand.

"Pretty," said Lilly as she patted her Aunt's hand fondly.

"Aunt Pen, doesn't a ring like that mean you're married?"

"Well, it means you're going to get married. Derek and I are going to get married. In a few days actually."

"Will mommy and daddy be back by then?"

"Sweetie, remember when Mommy and Daddy would talk to you about Heaven?" After the two children nodded at her she slowly continued. "Well, God needed two of the very best angels that he could find. Mommy and Daddy have went to heaven."

"When are they coming back Aunt Pen?" Lilly asked.

"Lilly, people don't visit Heaven. When God sends for them and they become angels, they stay up in Heaven and watch over us."

"Why? Why did it have to be them?" Noah asked angrily and glared at Derek as if to dare him to answer.

"God has a plan for all of us Noah. Mommy and Daddy didn't want to leave you as much as you didn't want them to leave you. I promise you that. Mom and Dad loved you so much Baby."

"I just want my mom back." Noah said in tears as he looked to Pen for an answer and when she realized she didn't have one to give, her heart broke even more.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I wish I knew the words that would make this easier, I wish I could take away your pain and confusion but I can't."

"It's not fair!" Noah shouted and scooted off Pen's lap and ran from the room. Lilly still sat on Pen's other leg and looked at her Aunt with a very confused look.

"I don't understand." She said simply.

_Me neither._ Pen thought to herself. "You are all going to come live with Derek and I. Okay, were family Lilly-Bear and you know Aunt Pen loves you right?"

"I love you too Aunt Pen. I just miss Mommy and Daddy."

"I know sweetie. How about you draw them a picture? We can mail it to them in Heaven."

"Okay Aunt Pen. I have crayons in my room." She raced from the room in a hurry to go draw her picture.

Pen looked at Derek and finally allowed a few tears to fall. Derek sat next to her on the couch and pulled her towards him. They sat like that for a few minutes, with their arms around each other and they drew on the support each one provided, each were acutely aware that in this house sat, an angry 5 year old, a confused 3 year old, two 15 month olds that were pretty oblivious to how their lives had just changed forever and a three week old infant that all needed to be cared for. Their wedding was in two days and so far they had very little planned, the house they were sitting in needed to be boxed up, given away and the actual house itself needed to be sold, the cars in the driveway needed to be sold and they needed to reassemble their lives across the country in Virginia. How they were going to do all of the previously mentioned things also needed to be worked out but for this one moment in time, Derek and Penelope just sat together and took comfort in the other's presence, readying themselves for the future.


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHORS NOTE: **So I know I said I would have the next chapter up by last weekend but I got tied up with work and school. Sorry! Those of you who have reviewed or messaged me, I really appreciate your feedback! Also, for the purpose of my story, JJ never left the BAU. JJ and Will split 5 months after Henry's birth and he signed over his rights. (I'm making Henry to be almost 3.) Dave adopted Henry shortly after and then he and JJ got married 4 months ago. Hotch still had to experience the death of Haley but in my story, Emily helps him through it. Reid is dating a girl who lives in his building, April. They've been dating for over a year and things are getting pretty serious. This chapter is a MONSTER! Seriously, its 17 pages long on Word…hopefully it makes up for not putting it up last weekend!

DISCLAIMER: I apologize for forgetting to add this to the previous chapters but obviously, I do not own Criminal Minds. Sadly, they still belong to CBS.

ONCE UPON A PHONE CALL:

**CHAPTER 4:**

The next two days flew by in a whirlwind of diapers, toys, laundry and getting everything ready for the arrival of some very important people. Fran had arrived the day after the funeral. Derek had called his mom and asked her to fly out to meet him. He had some important news and wanted to deliver it in person. When Derek had went to pick her up at the airport, Fran had insisted she tell him right away but he held his tongue until they had made it back to the house where Pen and the kids were waiting.

"Baby girl, where are you?" Derek called from the front door as he locked it behind himself and his mom.

"In the kitchen," she called in return. Derek gestured for his mom to follow him as he made his way through the living room and into the kitchen. Derek found Penelope stirring a pot on the stove.

"Fran! How are you?" Penelope gushed as she abandoned her post and made her way over to Derek's mother. "How are Sarah and Des?"

"We're all good. Desiree just started a new job working for a non-profit group, Emagine. They work with inner city kids to get them involved in activities and they help with their school work. She really likes it."

"That sounds great." Penelope warmly smiled at Fran before continuing. "Derek and I have something we would like to talk to you about."

"First, baby girl, is this macaroni almost done?"

"Yeah hot stuff, the strainer is in the sink and the cheese mix and the milk is on the counter. While you finish that, I'll get us all coffee," she turned and looked at her future mother-in-law. "Fran, do you still take it, one cream two sugar?"

"Yes dear, but I'm sure there is something I can help with?"

"Please, Fran, just sit down at the table and make yourself comfortable."

Fran sat at the table and smiled slightly to herself as she watched her son and his "Baby Girl" work together in the kitchen almost as if they were one person. She reached around him and got the sugar canister, he scooted behind her with the pot of mac and cheese, neither one needing any words to alert the other person of their presence. Once the mac and cheese had been dished up into 4 little bowls with accompanying spoons, Derek gestured towards the basement door with his eyebrow lifted. Penelope nodded and Derek made his way carefully down the steps to feed the kids an early lunch.

"I told Noah that he is in charge of the remote. I turned on that fish movie, mama. You think that is okay?" Derek asked as he reappeared at the top of the stairs.

"You mean Finding Nemo?" Penelope asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I think that's the one. Lilly, Ethan and Grace all seemed to like it. Noah was happy to be the one in charge."

"Who?" Fran asked with a very confused look on her face.

"We should probably catch your mom up handsome."

"Your right baby girl."

The three adults sat around the kitchen table, sipping their coffees and catching Fran up to speed. She had grasped Penelope's hand in a show of compassion and support when she had learned Maggie had died. "I'm so sorry Penelope." When Fran's hand grasped Penelope's left hand, Fran felt something odd. She pulled her hand away and peered at the ring, looking at Derek sharply she said, "This had better be your grandmothers ring!"

"It is mom. I finally came to my senses and admitted how I feel about Pen. We're getting married tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You wait 6 years to tell her how you feel and you get married in, how many days? When did he propose?" Fran looked at Penelope for the answer.

"Two days ago. We were at the lawyer's office."

"Well, when did he tell you how he felt?"

"The same day." Penelope said quietly. She couldn't tell if Fran was upset or confused or just taken back by the sudden onslaught of information.

"Derek William Morgan! You whined to me and your sister for 6 years and you only got up the nerve to tell Penelope two days ago? And now you are getting married tomorrow! Tomorrow? How exactly do you think I can get ready for my only son's wedding in less than 24 hours?"

"Technically, you have about 27 hours, mom."

"Do not get smart with me Derek!" Fran warned.

"Fran?" Penelope tentatively said.

"Penelope, I'm sorry for my outburst. I know you must be going through a lot right now and my behavior isn't helping things. Although, I would like a few answers from my son." Fran scowled back at Derek before returning her gaze to Penelope.

Penelope smiled slightly and took Fran's hand in her own. "We haven't told you everything. The children downstairs, well Olivia is upstairs sleeping but the other four are in the playroom downstairs. Maggie had 5 kids and she willed their guardianship to me. Derek and I are getting married so fast so we can be allowed to adopt the kids together on Wednesday. Most of the team is getting here today and who can't come today will be here first thing tomorrow. Derek and I are serious about making it work in the long haul and we want to be a family with the kids. And, Fran, it isn't only Derek who held in his feelings. I've loved your son for as long as he has loved me and we both kept quiet of fear. We weren't willing to risk losing what we did have to try to gain something more."

"I can understand that Penelope. Derek's father and I were friends for 3 years before we even hinted at becoming anything more. It's scary but when it works out, it's completely worth the risk."

"We've taken the risk and it's definitely worked out. Right baby girl?" Derek asked with a smirk in Penelope's direction.

"Definitely Hot stuff," Penelope smiled at Derek and then said, "I think you should be the one to ask."

Derek, catching on to what Penelope was hinting at nodded at her and then looked at his mother with a serious face. "Mom, I know this is a lot to take in but Pen and I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to come stay with us in Quantico for a while. Moving into a new house with 5 kids is going to be challenging and we are going to need all the hands we can get."

After a second or two of thought, Fran responded, "I'd love to. I've waited years for you to finally get together with Penelope and now there are children in the mix? There isn't a place in the world I would rather be." Fran stood up and gestured Pen and Derek to join her for a group hug. Placing a kiss on both of their cheeks she then proclaimed, "I want to meet the children." Derek took his mom downstairs to be introduced to the older kids and Pen went upstairs to check on Olivia who had woken up from her nap and was demanding to be changed and fed. Everyone reconvened in the living room and settled on the sectional couch and the two armchairs.

Penelope sat with Ethan in her lap and Olivia in a bouncy seat by her feet. Noah was sitting next to Derek. Thankfully, after the initial outburst of anger, Noah, while still confused, had taken to liking his Uncle Derek. Derek had been making an effort to take extra time with him and the two had played basketball outside and discussed Noah's love for airplanes in detail. Fran was seated in one of the armchairs. She didn't want to crowd the children that she had just met a few minutes prior to this. Grace and Lilly were sitting on either side of the baby sister and were cautiously labeled as "Aunt Penelope's helpers". The two girls were loving their new positions of power and for the most part, Pen hadn't had to intervene with things.

"Alright guys. Uncle Derek and I need to talk to you about a few things. So we need you to be as quiet as you can and just listen to what we have to say. Sound good?"

A chorus of okays and nods of their little heads followed and Derek took lead."Tomorrow Aunt Pen and I are going to get married and we would like you guys to be there."

"We gonna wear pretty dresses?" Lilly asked excitedly. "Well, not Livia cuz she just a baby but me and Grace?"

"Do I have to get dressed up?" Noah asked skeptically already formulating an argument as to why he shouldn't have to wear the itchy corduroy pants his mom liked him to wear on special occasions.

"Yeah, Lilly-Bear, you get to wear pretty dresses. Aunt Pen is going to pick out her dress this afternoon once her friends get here. You can come with us if you want. And Noah, how about we buy you a brand new outfit to wear. Maybe we can even find some blue dress pants?" Penelope asked her nephew with a little smile in her eyes.

"Okay Aunt Pen. I don't want to be mean or anything, I love you but I don't have to go shopping with the girls, right?" Noah asked.

"No, little man. When Aunt Pen and I's friends get here, I'm betting a few of them didn't pack completely for the occasion and they will have to make a run to a tux shop. You can come with us. Are you okay with your brother coming? Because you know, us guys have to stick together."

"Like basketball?" Noah asked as he looked up into Derek's face.

"Exactly like basketball buddy."

"Okay then Uncle Derek. Ethan can come." Noah paused a minute until a thought occurred to him.

"Uncle Derek, you said your friends are coming? Who are they?"

"Well Aunt Pen and I work with some pretty great people. We've invited them here to come see us get married."

"So it's a bunch of growed ups?" Lilly asked with wide eyes.

"Actually, JJ and Dave have a son who is about your age Lilly. I bet you guys will have fun together and Noah, Hotch has a son Jack who is only a year older than you, I bet you guys will have some things in common." Derek explained to the children.

"So we get friends too?" Lilly asked, her excitement was evident from the grin on her face.

"Yeah, you guys get to have friends. I bet you will be great friends once we get back to Quantico."

"Where's that?" Noah asked.

"It's in Virginia buddy."

"Isn't Virginia far away?"

"Yes. Its far away."

"How are we going to get there?"

"Well Aunt Pen, Fran and I are going to take all of you guys on a plane and we are going to get there a few days before all of your stuff. But once the movers get there, we will unpack all of the stuff into the house."

"What about my house?"

"Well buddy, we're going to find a nice family who needs a house to live in and they're going to live here."

"But I like living here."

"I know sweetie. Uncle Derek and I have jobs in Quantico baby. Derek and I work to find bad guys. Remember the stories mom used to tell you about the superheroes of the FBI?" Penelope asked as she lightly tickled her oldest nephew.

"Yeah."

"Derek and I work for the FBI and so do our friends. We all work in the same unit. The BAU."

"What do you do?"

"We find bad guys and put them in jail where they belong." Derek explained.

"That sounds cool." Noah nodded his approval at Derek and then looked at his Aunt. "If we are coming to live with you in Virginia then how will mommy and daddy know where we are?"

"Well sweetie, mommy and daddy left a will. A will is a list of things that you want to happen when God calls you to heaven and makes you an angel. In mommy and daddy's will they wrote that they wanted Derek and I to take care of you. They knew about Derek and me living in Virginia. They will know where you are because it's what they wanted to happen."

"Like a new mommy and daddy?" Lilly asked innocently.

"Kind of, munchkin. When mommies and daddies have to go to heaven before they are ready to and their kids still need to be taken care of, they list a guardian for the kids. Mommy and Daddy listed us. You can call us Aunt Pen and Uncle Derek or you can call us mom and dad. We aren't trying to replace them because mommy and daddy were the best parents you guys could have ever had. I loved them just as much as you did and I'm still sad when I remember that they aren't here anymore. Now you guys have two of the best angels to protect you and watch over you from heaven. Uncle Derek and I are like your earth parents. You guys are special; you have two sets of parents looking out for you. Okay?" Pen asked as she wrapped up her mini rant and took a look at each of the children to see how her speech had been taken. Lilly looked happy as always, Noah looked like he was thinking everything through. Ethan and Grace didn't seem to have heard any of it and Olivia was now partially dozing in her seat.

"Like when my friend at school, David, his parents got a divorce and his mom got married again so then he had a step-dad. Is that what you mean Aunt Pen? You will be my step-mom?"

"Almost Noah. Mom and Dad needed someone to watch over you guys on earth while they watch over from heaven."

"So you guys are like a team? Like basketball?" Noah asked Derek.

"Yeah, buddy. We're all on the same team. Just like basketball."

Noah nodded as it finally made sense in his young mind. Lilly had been quiet for the last few minutes but now her concerns had reached their breaking point.

"What about my toys?"

"What do you mean sweetie?" Pen asked her and pulled her up onto her lap as Ethan had wiggled loose and went to play with some toys in the corner.

"My toys. Where will they live?"

"With us, in Virginia. How about this? Go find your Dora backpack. You can put 3 small toys in there, to bring on the plane and then later you and I will make sure your toys will be safe when the movers drive them from here to Virginia."

"Okay Aunt Pen. Thanks!" Lilly excitedly made her way towards the stairs.

"I'm sorry we didn't introduce you to the kids as their grandmother mom. I know how much you've been looking forward to me having children in my life. I just didn't want to burden them with too much at once. I think they're going to call you Fran for a while."

"Darling, that is not even close to being a concern of mine! They will come around when they are ready and until then, I'm perfectly happy being the Fran in their lives who loves them and cares for them."

"Thanks mom."

Fran waved away the gratitude. "Nothing to be thankful for son. Now what is this I hear about the team arriving today? How is everyone?"

"Well actually a lot has happened on that end too." Derek began to fill his mom in about the lives of his fellow members of the BAU. He told her about Haley's death. How Hotch and Emily have been getting closer and they all suspected something. Their unit chief and Emily had announced their relationship and their engagement almost 2 months ago. JJ and Will had split, leaving JJ with full custody of Henry. Dave had gladly taken his spot in JJ'\s life and the life of his now adopted son. JJ and Dave had gotten married 3 months ago and were expecting twin girls in 4 months. Reid had met this great girl in his apartment building, April. They were getting pretty serious and neither Pen nor Derek had ever seen Spencer this happy.

"Wow. Thanks for catching me up, now I might have a clue as to what's going on when everyone gets here." Fran said with a chuckle. "How did all of you get past the fraternization rules?"

"Well, it turns out the Director lost a bet to Dave a couple of years back and Dave had to call in that favor. As long as our track record keeps up and we all remain professional in the field, there won't be a problem. Most of the time we all switch partners; Dave with Em and Hotch with JJ or JJ and Spencer and I'm with Em. It changes, we just try to avoid "coupling off". None of us want to give the higher-ups any more fuel for the fire."

"It sounds like you worked it out pretty well for yourselves." Fran paused a moment and then turned to Penelope. "When will the girls be getting here? I didn't pack for a wedding and I'm sure you didn't either."

"JJ, Dave and Henry's flight lands in an hour and Em, Hotch and Jack should be 20 minutes behind them. Derek is taking the minivan to go pick everybody up. Would you mind staying here to help me get the house cleaned a little. I have to set up the two guest rooms upstairs, the beds should be turned down and I have to figure somewhere for Henry and Jack to sleep."

"Jack can sleep in my room. He can have the bottom bunk." Offered Noah shyly from the doorway.

"That's very nice of you, Noah. Let's wait until they get here and see if you get along with Jack okay?"

"Okay Aunt Pen. Should I go turn down my bed? What does that mean?" Noah wondered.

"It means pull down the blankets so it's easy to crawl under the covers and get comfortable." Pen patiently explained.

"Hey Noah, why don't you and I go see if we can fix the beds and then get started packing up some of your stuff?" Noah nodded and started towards the stairs. Derek paused to kiss Penelope lightly on the lips before following.

Once they were gone, Fran looked at Penelope and said, "Thank you."  
"For what?" Penelope wondered.

"You've made Derek become a part of something bigger than himself. He's loved you for a long time and just couldn't admit it to you."

"Honestly, I'm glad he didn't. I wasn't ready to hear it. I've been running from my feelings for as long as Derek has been running from his. We both are really lucky that we didn't miss our chance. Part of me is freaking out because we only decided to take a chance on each other days ago and now we are getting married tomorrow. If seems like something that would accompany the story of a Vegas vacation, not the beginning of a family." Penelope's doubts made their way to the front of her mind and she trailed off.

"Penelope, Derek has been emotionally tied to you since that first day. Don't think of this marriage as being fast or a change in your relationship. You two have been emotionally committed for a long time. Most marriages aren't built on the kind of trust and understanding that the two of you have for each other. You're going to be fine. I promise."

"I'm just scared Fran. Derek doesn't ever let anything scare him. Or at least he doesn't tell me about it."

"Derek was afraid of losing you. He was afraid of losing you for a long time. He probably isn't sharing his doubts right now because he's afraid of giving you an excuse to back out."

"I'm not going to back out. I'm completely in. I'm just afraid of it not working."

"Talk to Derek sweetie. I think you will find he shares your feelings. It's only natural; just try to remember what you are built on. Draw on the years of movie nights and dinner dates and remember how much you love each other, you will be fine."

"He told you about the dinner dates and movie nights?" Pen asked shocked.

"What else could he have talked to me about? It was always all about you."

Penelope smiled at that thought and she looked at Fran. "Do you mind watching the little ones? I've got something to discuss with Derek."

"Go ahead dear. We'll be fine." Penelope nodded at Fran and made her way towards the stairs. She found him in Noah's room. Noah was digging in his closet and Derek was putting a small pile of toys in a little backpack.

"Are you packing that for the plane?"

"Yeah, I figured while we had a minute, I would do it."

"Smart thinking hot stuff. We really are a team, aren't we?" She said with a smile.

" We are most definitely a team Baby Girl. Wherever you are Baby Girl, I'm right behind you._ I've_ got _your_ back." He said the last part, laced with a deeper meaning, indicating her speech to Maggie at the funeral.

"Thanks Derek. I've got your back too."

"Aunt Pen?" Noah called from inside his closet.

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Are we going to need to pack clothes for the plane ride?"

"We probably will not have to change clothes on the plane but we will need to bring a couple of outfits with us so you guys can have clothes until the movers get there."

"Okay, how bout these?" Noah asked. He had a green polo with blue jeans and an orange tee with another pair of jeans.

"That looks pretty good buddy. I think we should pack you shorts instead of pants though. The weather in Virginia is like the weather here."

"So it's summer there too?"

"Yeah buddy. Its summer in Virginia, so the shirts you have will be perfect, we just need to find you some shorts."

"I think I know where they are!" Noah said excitedly and went back to digging in his closet.

"Handsome, JJ and Dave land in a half hour. Your mom said she would stay with me and help me with the kids while you are gone but hurry back okay?" Penelope said quietly to Derek. Her doubts about mothering were poking through again.

"Baby Girl, you are a natural at all of this kid stuff. You will be fine." Seeing the look that crossed Penelope's face he hastily added, "But I will hurry back."

"Thank you." She whispered and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lightly. Derek kissed her back and hugged her tightly to him.

"I will bring JJ and Em back to you so you have some back up."

"Sounds good hot stuff," Penelope smiled at him then unwrapped her arms from his body to allow him to go to the airport.

"Uncle Derek?" Noah asked timidly.

"Yeah little man?"

"Can I come with you? To the airport? To pick up your friends?"

"The van seats 8 so yeah buddy. There's a seat for you if you want to come. Just go put on your shoes and we will leave."

"Okay Uncle Derek! Guys have to stick together," He said knowingly to his Uncle and raced from the room to find his shoes.

"You're really good with him." Penelope said quietly.

"He's a good kid. I think he's just looking for a man to identify with. He's going to be okay. We're all going to be okay." When Penelope wasn't looking at him, he put his hand under her chin and gently tugged on her face until her eyes were locked onto his. "Baby Girl, I promise you, everything is going to be okay."  
"You can't possibly know that." She said shaking her head lightly and trying to avoid his gaze.

"Hey hard head, you and me, we can do anything Baby. _That_ is what I know. Penelope and Derek. We can make this work momma. I promise you."

"Derek, I don't want to doubt us, I'm just scared. I'm scared that we are moving too fast and it's all going to fall apart at my feet. I'm scared that these wonderful kids are going to have a breakdown from all of the huge changes in their lives. I just want to fix it. I don't know how but I just want to fix it. I don't want to have these thoughts; I'd like to be positive and to be moving forward but, I'm not even sure where to move forward to. I can't predict what's going to happen so I can't find steady ground to stand on." Penelope stopped talking and looked at Derek with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Don't cry baby." Derek said as he brushed the escaping tears off her cheeks. "I love you and I'm scared too. I think anyone with any kind of thought process would be scared if they were dealt the hand we were. If this is moving too fast for you, I can adopt the kids later, we don't have to get married now."

"Do you want to wait?" she asked quietly.

"No I want to be married to you right now. I don't want to wait until tomorrow. But if you aren't ready, I'm not going to push you into this. I will wait for you to be ready Pen. I love you way too much to walk away now. Married or not." He vowed to her.

"I want to be married to you too. Your mom thinks we have built a foundation of a marriage already. Even though we weren't technically dating, we spent years as each other's best friend. We've slept in the same bed for years, watched a million movies and done things couples do together for almost the entire time we've known each other. When you think about it, we kind of were together for years before we made it official. I'm not afraid of marrying you Derek. I think marriage will only label what we've been doing for years and I can't wait for that to happen. I'm just scared of putting everything into this and then it doesn't work. We love each other, of course, but what if love isn't enough?"

"At the end of the day, love for one another is all any of us have. I think we've been doing a great job so far. I say that we take this leap together, we try to stop worrying about what we will do if it fails, and we just keep learning together."

Penelope was freely crying now but they were happy tears. "I love you Derek. You are absolutely right. I'm sorry for doubting us. We're going to be fine as long as we stick together."

"Baby, we should always talk out things between us. Communication is going to be vital in our relationship, so don't apologize for telling me how you feel. And I love you too Pen."

Derek and Penelope kissed with much more passion than they had when Noah had been in the room. After a minute or so, they reluctantly pulled apart. Derek had to make it to the airport in time for JJ's flight and Penelope had a list of stuff to accomplish before he returned with their guests.

Penelope was setting up a crib mattress on the floor of one of the guest rooms when Lilly appeared behind her.

"What are you doin?" Lilly asked.

"I'm setting up Henry's bed. JJ and Dave will sleep right there and Henry will sleep in here so he can be close to them."

"Henry can sleep in my room. He can sleep on the bed that's under mine."

"How about we leave that decision for his mommy and daddy okay munchkin?"

"JJ and Dabe are his mommy and daddy?"

"Yeah sweetie."

"So he doesn't have a team of parents to watch out for him?"

"No he doesn't. He has his mommy and daddy and Aunt Pen and Uncle Derek and his Aunt Emily and Uncle Aaron."

"Do I have an Aunt Emie and Uncle Aaron too?"

"Well, they don't know you yet but yeah. Aunt Emily and Aunt JJ and Uncle Aaron and Uncle Dave are going to be very excited to see you. Reid and April are going to be your friends too. They all work with Aunt Pen and Uncle Derek at the FBI."

"Aunt Pen? Do you think mommy would be sad to know that you are going to be our mommy now?"

"I don't think so sweetie. When mommy and daddy wrote their will, they were hoping that they would get to stay on Earth with you for a very long time but they wrote their will just in case. And in that will, they got to choose new parents for you and your brothers and sisters. They chose Aunt Pen and Uncle Derek because they wanted us to be the ones to take care of you. Mommy and Daddy wanted you guys to have a mom and dad even if they couldn't do it themselves."

"Okay Aunt Pen. When we get to the new house, am I gonna share a room with Grace?"

"There is a room at the new house that is big enough for you guys to share. Uncle Derek and I were thinking that you and Grace would share a room and Noah and Ethan would share the other big room and Olivia would take the little room that is attached to our bedroom. Once we get to Virginia, I will take you girls shopping so we can decorate your new room. Maybe we can do butterflies or princesses?" Penelope asked with a grin.

"Yeah! Princesses would be perfect Aunt Pen! I'm gonna go tell Grace right now!" She happily shouted as she ran to go find her sister.

A little while later, Pen had gotten the older children settled in the basement playroom with some art projects and she had slipped upstairs to grab her phone to see if Derek had called her yet. She wanted to make sure everyone had landed and hadn't run into any trouble. She almost collided with Fran at the top of the stairs. Fran was holding Olivia to her chest, the baby was sound asleep.

"I was coming to find you. She just fell asleep and I wasn't sure where you wanted her. I know you have friends coming and I wasn't sure if you wanted her to sleep in her crib or down here with you."

"Actually Fran, I can take the baby. I'm going to go call Derek and see how everything is working out at the airport. Would you mind supervising the art projects downstairs? For the most part, the room is pretty childproof, I just don't want them to eat the crayons or anything." Penelope slightly joked with her future mother in law.

"Not a problem sweetie." Fran passed off the baby as gently as possible and made her way down the stairs. Penelope walked slowly into the kitchen to find her phone and saw that Derek had texted her to tell her JJ's flight had landed and now they were waiting for Hotch and Em. Pen texted a quick reply and after putting Olivia in her swing, she went to find Fran.

Ethan and Grace were quietly playing with a pile of coloring books and crayons at the crafts table in the playroom. Lilly and Fran were sitting in the corner, reading a book quietly. Penelope watched her future mother in law's ease in which she cared for four of the five children that were going to be signed over to her in a few days and Pen thought to herself: _Well, thank god she's coming home with us._

About an hour later, Derek returned with everyone in tow. Reid and April had ended up flying into LAX and then taking the train to the San Diego airport to meet up with everyone else. Since there wasn't any more room in the minivan, Reid and April had followed the van in their rental SUV. Once Pen had showed the three couples to their rooms, all of the kids had rushed off to play in the playroom and Fran had followed to keep watch. Derek and Penelope settled in the living room with their friends and colleagues to catch everyone up on their lives. When they were done, everyone was understandably taking a few moments to wrap their heads around everything.

"I'm so sorry PG." Emily said as she leaned over and hugged one of her best friends. "I know it might have seemed like you guys were on your own for the first couple of days but, that is over. We are a family and we're here now."

"Thanks Em. Derek and I keep stopping and trying to realize that this is our life now. It's a LOT to adjust to."

"Well, we're here now. So the big man finally got up the courage to ask you huh?" Emily said with a smile at Pen and a light punch to the shoulder for Derek.

Derek beamed at Penelope and said, "We both stopped running and we're good right baby girl?"

"We're _great_ hot stuff." Pen and Derek kissed lightly and then turned back to their friends.

"Anyone hungry? I can make some burgers on the grill." Everyone agreed they were hungry and the men decided to grab a few beers and man the grill outside while the women excitedly discussed wedding plans.

"Okay Pen, spill. You have to tell us exactly what happened!" JJ stated as she plopped her body into the kitchen chair and started munching on some grapes she had found in the fridge. April sat next to her, still not entirely sure what her role in the friendship was, kept quiet and took a sip of her water.

Pen smiled at the sight of her ordinarily tiny best friend as she sat, her baby bump bigger than JJ herself was, and started to tell the girls details of what she and Derek had been through for the past two days. When she was done, Emily spoke first.

"PG, that has got to be one of the most romantic things I have ever heard in my entire life. You guys deserve this. You waited so long for it to work out and you're finally getting what you want."

"Seriously, Pen, I'm so happy for you guys. It's beautiful. You and Derek will be fine. And if you need a little help along the way, Fran and the rest of us will be right there." JJ vowed.

"Thanks guys. I'm happy, a little overwhelmed sometimes but really happy." Pen smiled as she put chicken nuggets and tater tots in the oven for the kids for lunch. "Should we talk wedding plans?"

"Definitely!" shouted JJ as she got up to put her bowl in the sink. After she had made her way back into her chair, Pen pulled out some printouts she had looked up last night.  
"Okay, ladies. I found a great dress shop downtown. I'm going to look for my dress here but I found three styles that I like. Since it's going to be outside and it's a small ceremony, we aren't going with the traditional look." She spread them out amongst her friends and waited for their reactions.

"Oooh, Pen. This is beautiful." April said as she gazed at the image in front of her. The dress was unique like Pen herself. It had a black and pink polka dot ribbon going around the waist and had a few colored sequins that wrapped around the bottom of the dress. JJ and Em both liked their photos and then all of the women traded. It was decided that the black and pink one was the favorite.

"Thanks sweetie. I'm not really sure which one will look best or even what one they have in my size because I don't have time to order it but those are my favorites. I made an appointment for four o'clock tonight, I was thinking we could leave the men here to watch the kids and we could go dress shopping?"

"Is that seriously a question?" Emily asked sarcastically. "We would love to go!"

"Even though we aren't going with the traditional stuff, I would love if you guys would stand up there with me."

"Thanks PG!" Emily said as she pulled her friend in for a hug.

"You guys are family, who else would I ask?" Pen said as she hugged Em back. JJ was tearing up but waved away Pen's concern.

"It just the hormones, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm flattered. I just don't think me and my bump will fit in any of the dresses they have in stock."

"Love bug, did you really think that I would pick a dress shop that didn't have maternity selections?" Pen said as she pulled her other friend into a warm embrace.

"April, you are going to break Spence's heart when he realizes you are going to be leaving him here with children." Pen smiled as she looked at the younger girl.

"Pen, are you sure you want me to be in your wedding? You don't need to feel obligated, I promise. I will be absolutely fine with watching from the audience." April blurted out as she blushed slightly.

"My little gumdrop, you may be the youngest of our group but we are family. I absolutely want you to be a bridesmaid." Pen smiled as April nodded.

"I'd love to Pen. Thank you." April beamed.

"Okay ladies. Time to make some decisions, we are just going to have you guys at the wedding, and we'll just come back here and hang out here. There is so much packing to be done, Derek and I were hoping you would help?" Pen hopefully looked at her three friends, when they all agreed to help, she said, "Thanks guys. We really need the help. As for the ceremony itself, the courthouse downtown holds small wedding ceremonies in the courtyard. Derek and I don't want a huge deal. We've got enough to deal with, and the important thing is that we are together and we get to have our friends and family there with us. Fran will be sitting in the audience with as many of the children as she can handle. Sarah and Allison are two girls who live in the neighborhood; they were thankfully free so they are meeting us here and driving over with us to help Fran during the ceremony with the kids. I figure between the three of them, they can handle the 7 kids for the 15 minutes of the ceremony. We're going to order takeout and have a packing party back at the house after the ceremony. The movers will be coming Wednesday afternoon to unassembled the furniture but we've got to go through the house and decide what we are bringing and what has to be given away. We are going to get dresses today. Oh, crap! What about tuxes?" Penelope said as her current dilemma suddenly made itself known.

"Maybe we all go together?" April suggested tentatively.

"That could work." Pen said quietly. "Okay, let me run it by Derek and see what he thinks." Pen quickly moved from the room towards the back door. When she was gone, Emily looked at April.

"Pen isn't the only one who feels like you completely belong. I really like you April. You're good for Spencer and you're good for the rest of us."

"Thanks Em. I think sometimes, I just realize that you guys have been friends for years and I've got a lot of ground to cover."

"It's not a race. You fit in this crazy group that we call family. That's all that matters." JJ said simply.

"Thanks Jay. You guys are the best friends I've ever had."

"You are definitely some of the best friends I've ever had. You also have excellent ideas." Pen said as she re-entered the kitchen. She went to the pot of coffee and poured herself a cup. "Derek thinks we can make it work. We can take Olivia, Grace and Lilly with us and all of the boys will go together. That way, Derek doesn't see my dress and the kids are all taken care of. And, everyone gets fitted for their dresses and tuxes for tomorrow. I've got to call the dress shop and make sure they know there will be so many of us." Penelope bustled from the room to get the number from her phone.

"She's really busy." April commented.

"Yeah, PG needs a break. How about tomorrow before the wedding ceremony, we take her to get a massage? She's been through a lot these last few days and she could certainly use one." Emily suggested.

"My friend owns a spa in San Diego somewhere. Let me call her and see if she can fit us in for tomorrow. 9am work? I don't want to cut it too close to the ceremony."

"Sounds perfect." April said and JJ went off to make her phone call. Thirty minutes later, the dress shop had been alerted of their impending arrival, the spa was booked for the next morning; everyone had eaten lunch, cleaned up and were now in the process of getting everybody ready.

"Hey Jack?" Pen called over to the boy who was patiently waiting by the door. Henry's hand grasped in his, when Jack looked at her, Pen continued. "Can you go ask Uncle Dave if he will drive the Prius? If he says yes, can you please tell him that the keys are hanging by the garage?" Seeing Jack nod and pull Henry with him down the hall, Penelope yelled "Thanks buddy." She returned to her current task of putting sandals on Ethan and Grace. "Okay guys, I think we are ready."

"Ready?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, are you ready to help Uncle Derek pick out his tux?" She asked as she helped him off the couch and reached for his sister.

"Yup," he said and went off to find his Uncle.

"I help too?" Grace asked as she looked up at Pen.

"Yeah, sweetie, you're going to come with Aunt Pen and we're going to look for pretty dresses. Do you think maybe we can find you a princess one to wear?"

"Princess?" Grace said hopefully.

"Yeah baby. We're going to look for Princess dresses," Pen picked up Grace and gave her a hug. "How about you go find everybody else and make sure they are ready." She put Grace down and watched as the little girl happily hurried off to find her friends. She found Derek in the garage. He and Dave were busy trying to figure out who would ride in what car.

"No man, that won't work. If we do that, then we can't take Noah in the van with us. Let's count again. The van seats 8. The Prius seats 5 and the Camry seats 5. If we put myself, Noah, Ethan, Dave, Henry in the van, it leaves who?"

"Hey hot stuff." Pen interrupted as she walked into the garage and approached the two men. "Whatcha working on?"

"Your man here, seems to think that the seating arrangement has to be planned out to the last little detail. At this rate, we should be done by Wednesday." Dave sarcastically said as he smirked at Pen.

"Rossi, I'm sure it's not that bad." Pen said as she turned to look at the papers spread across the hood of the van. Derek had made a list of everyone that was coming. Another list of what needed to be packed for Olivia and a last sheet of paper had the number of cars they were taking and how many people could fit in each one. "Hot stuff? I'm pretty sure that we don't need this kind of detail. It's only a thirty minute drive and we're all going to the same place." Pen said carefully, not wanting to hurt Derek's feelings.

"I know momma. I just don't want to forget anything." He said simply. He reached for one of the papers. "If we put Ethan and Noah," Derek began. Pen placed her finger over his lips gently. When he took her hand and pulled her in for a kiss that had Dave clearing his throat a couple of times, the couple slowly and regrettably separated.

"Ethan, Grace, Jack and Henry are all set. Why don't you go make sure Noah could find those sandals he wanted to wear and maybe your mom needs help packing for Olivia?" Pen suggested as she found the paper with the list for Olivia on the car and handed it to him.

"I can take a hint Baby Girl. Thanks for saving Dave from my insanity." Derek said as he swatted her on the butt and then went quickly in the house, Pen's laugh echoing in his ears long after he had gotten inside. Pen took one look at the problem in front of her and had a solution.

"Hotch, Em, April and Spencer will drive the Camry. Derek and I will take our older 4 plus Jack and Henry in the minivan. Jack and Noah have been inseparable since they met and Lilly already asked me if Henry could be her brother too. Can you and JJ take Olivia? Derek will put the car seat base in your car and you can follow us over?" Pen said hopefully to the gruff but loving profiler.

"Of course. Jen will love the chance to spend time with the baby."

"I can't wait for her to be a mom again. She was fantastic with Henry and it's going to be even better this time around. Last time, she wasn't in love with Will. She's lucky she found you."

"You got that backward Penelope, I'm the lucky one. Without Jen, I'd stopped living my life. It was like all the meaning in life was gone and that woman came roaring into my life and as she came, she lit everything on fire. She gave me one child and she's working on numbers 2 and 3. I couldn't be happier." Dave smiled at Penelope. "Alright, anymore of this talk and I'm going to get tears in my eyes and we can't have that. I need to uphold my bad-ass image."  
"We know you're a softie in there. But don't worry. You still fool the unsubs." Pen said with a chuckle as she went to go round up the troops for their trip.


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHORS NOTE****: **I can't remember if I said what time Derek and Pen's ceremony would be taking place or not but for the purpose of this chapter, it is taking place at 3pm at the courthouse in the courtyard outside. The guardianship ceremony is next and the moving process will be finalized

Chapter 5

When everyone arrived at the dress shop a half hour later, they realized there was no parking on the main street where the store was located. Spying a parking lot a few blocks down, Derek, Dave and Hotch elected to drop everyone off near the door and go and park the cars. JJ carried Olivia into the store as April took Ethan out of his car seat. Jack and Noah stood on the sidewalk close to the building. Emily stood watch over them as she took Ethan from April and put him next to his brother and the two boys held hands. Emily helped Lilly out of the car and then led the children into the store behind JJ. Pen handed Henry to Reid and carried Grace behind him as they followed everybody else.

The store owner came out from behind the counter to greet her customers.  
"Hello. Are you with the Garcia-Morgan party?" she asked with a smile. When a few of the women nodded their heads she introduced herself. "My name is Jamie and I am the owner of this store. I have two associates waiting to assist the ladies as well as two associates to assist the men. The men can enter that door over there." She gestured to a door a little off the side. "There is a flight of stairs going up to the second floor, so please watch your step. And the women can follow me to the rear of the store."

"Reid, are you okay with waiting for Derek, Dave and Aaron with the kids? I know that Jack, Noah and Henry wanted to come with the boys. Ethan needs an outfit too right Pen?"  
"Derek and I are going to get them all a new outfit to wear. We haven't decided to match everything or not, we figured we would get here and then make the decision when we realized what we had to work with." Pen reasoned and smiled at Jack who was being an excellent helper. He had Ethan's hand in his left and was holding onto Grace's hand with the other.

"I'm okay staying with the boys if you guys want to head back." Reid said. "I'm sure you guys have more decisions to make than we do anyway."

JJ chuckled and then she sat on the couch and motioned for Henry to come to her. "Henry, can you stay with Uncle Reid for a few minutes and wait for Daddy?" she asked when he got close.

"Daddy comin to get me mama?" Henry asked innocently as he played with her necklace.

"Yeah munchkin," JJ smiled as the thought that her son had one of the best dads in the world crossed her mind. "Will you stay with Uncle Reid and be the best little boy ever?"

"The bestest?"

"The very best." JJ kissed Henry on the head and slowly stood, accommodating for her large baby bump. Henry went and took Reid's hand in his own and started to talk to his Uncle animatedly about something. JJ smiled and went to lift Olivia from the floor to bring the baby with them.

"Sweetheart. You are already carrying two babies around, let me carry this one." Emily offered.

"I've got it Em. Soon I'm going to be carrying two of them anyway. Might as well practice." JJ joked a little but a bit of her anxiety about having twins showed through to her friend.

"How's Dave doing with the whole pregnancy thing?" Em questioned while she watched JJ lift the carrier and sling it over her arm.

"At first I think he was completely shocked but we both knew this relationship was serious so thankfully, there wasn't any big freak out moments." JJ said with a laugh.

"No kidding." Em said thinking of her two past pregnancy scares when she wasn't in a mature and stable relationship. "Dave is a really good dad to Henry though."

"I'll be honest, I was skeptical at first. David had a reputation and everyone knew it. Taking that chance on him rewarded me with the biggest joy of my life. I've got a great family." JJ got a faraway look in her eyes as she thought about all of the times that Dave and Henry would have "guy days" the two of them would go fishing or to the park to play catch and each time, both would come home with grins on their face and tons of stories to tell her. After a few seconds of thought she continued. "I was almost in full blown panic mode when Will had signed the papers and left for New Orleans. I remember feeling like I was suffocating and then, as if by magic, Dave called my phone. When I didn't answer, he called my house. Not wanting to be bothered, I unplugged it from the wall. He knocked on my door 15 minutes later. I let him in and we talked all night. The next morning, he kissed me and then apologized for "taking advantage of my emotional state." JJ and Em chuckled.

"So I take it he didn't know that you had been yearning after him before you even met Will?" Em chuckled. "Men can be so dense."

"No kidding. I think I've had to show Dave the correct way to run the washing machine 12 or 13 times by now. And, I guarantee you that next week when we are all back home, I will have to go out to buy more maternity tops because Dave will wash them on hot or forget to clean out his pockets of pens."

"That's nothing. Aaron managed to somehow get dryer lint in the washing machine and ran it that way so all of the clothes came out with little balls of puff stuck to the clothes. Our brand new sheet set was ruined and Jack's brand new polo had to be thrown away."

JJ shook her head then a thought occurred to her. "How did you guys tell Jack you are getting married?"

"We told him before we told you guys. He's old enough to understand what happened to his mom and at first he had some concerns about me replacing Haley, which we assured him would never happened, he was happy to have someone moving in that can cook him something besides scrambled eggs."

"Hey, my eggs are delicious." Hotch defended himself from behind Emily's shoulder. He took the carrier from JJ with a look that silenced her attempts of protest. JJ lifted her hands in surrender and turned around and went through the door to go look at dresses.

"I know babe, I just said Jack was glad that we were getting married and I was moving in so he could eat something besides eggs." Emily playfully pinched his cheek. "You are adorable when you grumble." Emily said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to almost reach hers.

"I am not grumbling." Hotch said, playfully upset as he wrapped his one arm that was free around her body and pulled her close.

"That's a shame because I was going to see if I could kiss your grumbles away…" she trailed off and went to step out of his embrace.

"I'm definitely grumbling." Hotch agreed quickly and Emily smiled as his lips set siege to hers. A minute or so later, they separated and Hotch handed Em the carrier and watched her as she walked towards the women's area. Derek went to Penelope and gave her a passionate kiss that had Reid blushing and Dave clearing his throat. Upon seeing and hearing his daddy, Henry quickly let go of Reid's hand and ran to Dave, hugging him around the legs. Dave hugged him back and then began to talk about all of the "monkey suits" they were going to try on. April was gathering the diaper bag from one of the chairs and followed Emily into the women's area causing everyone to go their separate ways.

A couple of hours later, they were finished. Dresses had been selected, the black white and pink polka dot, halter dress for Pen, a black halter that had little pink polka dots for Emily, April had found a pink halter dress with black polka dots and JJ had found a plain black halter dress with a pink ribbon that went right under her bust. They had managed to find dresses that all fit and didn't need alterations. The men had all found black suits with pink ties. Dave had grumbled about the last part but one stern look from JJ, had shut him up very quickly. The little boys had found suits to match and they were pretty excited to be matching their Dads and Uncles. Lilly and Grace had picked matching pink and black polka dot dresses. When it came time to pay for everything however, Derek and Pen were in for another surprise.

"Hey guys? Will you let Dave and I pay for everything as our wedding present to you?" JJ asked hopefully.

"That is way too much Jay. We can't possibly let you do that." Pen shook her head.

"Actually, Penelope, you can. I know that regardless of what the FBI instructed you to do, you ran your own check on me. You know how much money I have stored in several healthy bank accounts. Let us do this for you. We're more than just friends, we're family." Dave's tone left no room for argument as he stepped up to the counter and handed the owner his credit card.

"Thank you Dave." Pen said as she got a little teary eyed. "It's an awesome present."

"Yeah, guys. Thanks." Derek said as he embraced the older profiler in a hug and then moved to his very pregnant wife. Pen hugged JJ as Dave signed the credit card slip and the dress shop owner happily rang up her largest purchase in a while. After getting directions to the nearest mall from the owner, everyone slowly made their way to the car. The kids all held an adult's hand and Derek, Reid and two employees carried all of the clothing to their cars. After everyone had piled in and they followed their precise directions, they pulled into the parking lot of the mall. As Derek pulled the stroller from the trunk and clicked Olivia's seat in place, Pen suggested a plan.

"Since it's almost dinner time, why don't we hit the food court first and then we can go shopping for shoes to match our outfits. It looks like they have a Target, Payless, and Macy's. I'm thinking we can find the girls cute black shoes and white tights at Payless or Target. The boys should be able to find some cute shoes at Payless too. Macy's should have shoes for you guys and if Macy's doesn't have any shoes that would work for any of us then Payless or Target definitely should. I'm thinking if we eat then we start at Macy's, we can try Payless next and since we have to go Target to get storage boxes anyway, we should leave it for last."

"Sounds perfect mama," Derek looked at Pen and pulled her body into his and tilted her face up to his and then continued. "Thank you for marrying me tomorrow."

"Thank you for asking hot stuff. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world." She breathed softly as she held his gaze.

"No way baby girl, I'm definitely the lucky one is this relationship. For you to willingly jump into this with me, after my track record, is nothing short of a miracle." Derek said with a little bit of self loathing in his tone.

"I know you would never hurt me Derek. I'm safe with you." She softly as she wished his guilt away.

"Damn straight." Derek said and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss. Penelope smiled into his kiss and they reluctantly separated when they heard children getting out of the van behind them.

Eventually, everyone had been fed and the group was off to look for shoes. They tackled Macy's first and after finding shoes for all of the men, JJ and April, they were off to Payless. Since they passed a toddler play zone on their way, Emily and Hotch decided it would be best to bring Ethan and Grace there so they could burn off some steam and JJ could sit right outside and kept watch over Olivia.

IN PAYLESS:

"I get these?" Lilly asked as she held up a pair of bright orange sandals.

"Sweetie, we are looking for black shoes for the pretty dresses we just found at the store. We don't need orange sandals today, okay?" Pen asked gently. "How about we look at some of these?" Pen gestured to the shoes a little bit further down the aisle. Lilly immediately found another pair of shoes she liked.

"These?" Lilly hopefully asked her Aunt.

"I think these will work love bug. Let's see if they have them in your size." The shoes fit perfect and after finding a matching pair for Grace, Pen looked over to see if Derek was making any progress. The boys were circled around Derek, and they were trying on shoes. Pen smiled to herself and then took Grace to the front of the store where she had spotted play tiaras.

"OOOOhhhh! Aunt Pen, they are so pretty!" Lilly exclaimed as she carefully picked one off the rack. "Can I get one? Please?"

"Sure sweetie. How about you pick one out to wear for your sister too? You can wear them tomorrow when Uncle Derek and I get married?"

"Really? Thanks Aunt Pen!" and she ran over to hug Pen tightly.

Derek came up to the front with the boys shortly after; they all found shoes and Derek had remembered to get a pair in Ethan's size too. "Handsome, I still need shoes and so does Emily. Do you think you can watch the boys for a little longer? Maybe bring them to the play zone with the rest of the guys so we can get some quick shoe shopping in and then we can get everyone home?" Pen looked at him hopefully. She really needed some girl time that wasn't accompanied by little children. Even though she loved them and wasn't, in any way, regretting her decision to become their mom, she really just wanted some girly shopping time.

"If I take the kids to the play zone by myself, will you make your famous meatballs for Wednesday night's dinner?" Derek proposed a trade.

"Sure Handsome." Penelope gratefully pulled him in for a passionate kiss that left them both a little hazy. "I don't know if I'm going to last a month." She whispered in his ear as she gently bit the lobe and kissed him on his neck.

"I know I'm not going to, particularly, if you keep kissing me like that. Girl, you are sex on fire." Derek whispered back to her as he breathed little kisses up the side of her jaw to her ear and back.

"Aunt Pen?" asked Lilly. Her little voice pulled Derek and Pen from their state of arousal very fast.

"Yeah baby?" Pen asked as she stepped out of Derek's embrace in an attempt to clear her brain.

"Can I get this pink one and Grace can have the purple?"

"Is that the one you want to wear tomorrow?" Pen questioned as she crouched down in front of the little girl. When Lilly nodded, Pen said, "Then okay. How about Uncle Derek takes you to that play zone now? You can have some fun while Aunt Pen runs a very quick errand."

"Thanks!" Lilly exclaimed and launched herself at Pen and gave her another huge hug. Once Pen had balanced herself again, she hugged Lilly tightly. "I love you." Lilly whispered.

"Love you too Lilly-Bear." Pen whispered as she tickled the little girl. Lilly wiggled free amongst some giggles and launched herself at Derek animatedly showing off her new present.

Once all of the shoes and the tiaras were paid for, the group made their way to the play zone and Derek had paid the entrance fee for all of the kids. He took Olivia from JJ when she began to cry and as he cradled the tiny baby against his broad chest, Penelope's heart constricted in her chest and a few tears fell.

"Baby Girl?" Derek questioned as he came over to her with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine Derek. Really." Pen insisted as she quickly brushed the tears away.

"What's wrong?" Derek murmured as he gently tugged on her arm to separate them away from everyone else.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything is amazing. I was just watching you cradle Olivia with such love and adoration and I think, I just fell in love with you even more." Pen looked up at him with water brimmed eyes. "You are an amazing man Derek. And while I'm terrified that we are moving too fast and we are in way over our heads trying to care for 5 small children; I am immensely grateful that I've found you and we're going to do it together." Pen gauged his face for a reaction and was alarmed when he didn't show much of a reaction at all. "Derek?" she questioned.

"I'm just trying to think of big manly things so I don't openly cry in front of the entire team. Baby girl, I have never loved someone as much as you. You make even the most mundane tasks unbelievably exciting, I am beyond grateful that you've agreed to be my wife tomorrow and while I regret that you had to lose your friend for it to happen," he paused and pulled her in for a hug into his right side and kissed her temple before continuing. "I am extremely thankful that God has seen it fit to put me in a position to be a dad to these kids. I know what kind of responsibility we are signing up for and while it is scary, I'm also excited for this journey because I will be side by side with my best friend."

"I love you Derek."

"Love you too baby." Derek took a deep breath and finally got his emotions under control. "Now don't you have shoes to go pick out?" Derek said as he playfully swatted her butt. Pen laughed and then indicating for Emily, and April to meet her outside, she slipped out the front door. Emily and April followed Pen and the three of them spotted JJ on the bench outside talking quietly with Dave.

"Okay, cara mia. I see that the ladies are requesting your presence right now. Don't push yourself too hard okay? And hurry back to me, I worry a lot when I can't see you right in front of me." Dave said as he trailed circles on her baby bump with one hand and pulled her in for a kiss with the other.

"I will take care of the girls if you take care of our son." JJ bargained with a smile as he pulled her in for another kiss.

"Henry is _our_ son. Thank you again for the first gift of our marriage."

"You are an amazing father and an amazing husband. I didn't know that it was possible to love somebody this much. Besides Henry, I've never even felt close to what I feel for you."

"I love you Jen." David murmured as he pulled her in for yet another kiss.

"I love you too," she whispered against his mouth.

TWO HOURS LATER:

Emily Prentiss was an organizing queen. There simply was no other explanation for what she had accomplished in the last hour. The table in front of her was covered with papers with all sorts of information. Phone numbers for the moving company, the florist, the cleaning crew, the rental car company, the arrival and departure times of everyone's flight home and the address for the new house in Quantico to name a few. Emily had been working on organizing them into neat folders for the past hour while everybody else got settled for the night.

"Did you get him to sleep?" Emily asked as her fiancé came through the kitchen door.

"Yeah, Jack and Noah wanted to sleep in the same room so we have our room to ourselves tonight." Aaron sat beside her and gently took the pile of papers out of her hands and placed them on the table and then tugged her into his side.

"That has to be sorted." Emily protested even as she snuggled more deeply into his side.

"And it will still need to be sorted in the morning."

"We don't have time in the morning. All of us girls are going to get a massage for 9. And we all have hair appointments right after. Which means that we are leaving you guys with all of the kids for about three hours, the spa appointment is an hour and that leaves about an hour and half to get our hair done. Don't let Derek call Pen with questions okay? She really needs time to unwind and it honestly doesn't matter what the kids are wearing or if things get packed until we get back to the house and once we get here, we can set things right again if they need it."

"Do you think we can't handle it?" Aaron asked in a teasing tone.

"I think you are in for more than you bargained for." Emily answered with a chuckle as she pulled him in for a kiss.

"We'll see." Aaron answered with confidence.

THE NEXT MORNING:

Aaron Hotchner was regretting the words he had spoken to Emily the night before. He stood in the hallway of the kitchen and surveyed the scene in front of him with terror. Ethan, Grace and Henry were all in tears, covered in a mixture of oatmeal, orange juice, pancakes and syrup. Noah was in a yelling match with Jack, a fight which seemed to have erupted over some Star Wars toy. Olivia was wailing from her bouncy seat near the window and Lilly who had attempted to get orange juice out of the fridge, was now in tears and the entire gallon had slammed onto the floor, showering herself, most of the kitchen and the floor in sticky orange liquid.

Derek jogged up the basement stairs from where he had went to look in the extra freezer for more pancakes.

"What the heck happened in here?" he questioned as he scanned the room for himself and made his way over to Olivia and raised the cranky infant into his arms. "Shhh Princess. It's okay Shhhhh." He said softly to her as he bounced a little on the balls of his feet.

"Uncle Derek!" Noah yelled as he stomped into the kitchen only to come to an abrupt stop before he could walk into the flow of orange liquid. "Why is there orange juice on the floor?" he asked bewildered.

"Noah, you know better than to shout." Derek said to the little boy, his tone displaying disappointment rather than anger. "Can you run upstairs and find Uncle Dave. Tell him that I need his help." Derek continued and Noah ran off with Jack on his heels. The two boys were friends again, at least for the time being.

Meanwhile, Aaron had moved from his position in the doorway and had attempted to console and clean the three victims of the food fight. Deciding that it was lost cause at this point, he looked around for Derek.

"They are really sticky." He commented over his shoulder in the direction of Derek who had lifted Lilly into his arms and was rocking both of the girls.

"I was afraid of that. Hopefully Dave won't mind giving Henry and Ethan a bath so I can take Lilly and Grace into the other tub and we can get a fresh start. Do you think you could watch Olivia and Jack and Noah?"

"No problem Morgan. Do you have boxes to pack some stuff up? Jack and I could help Noah with his room while we wait for everyone to get clean again."

"I don't want to be rude or anything Hotch but I'm not sure if Noah would like that. It's kind of our project and I just don't want you to be surprised if he doesn't want you in his room. Maybe you could start packing up some clothes for Ethan and Grace instead?"

"I totally understand, I'm sure Jack wouldn't mind helping and it will give the boys some time to talk out whatever that argument was earlier."

"When were they arguing?" Derek wondered.

"Who was arguing?" Dave asked as he walked into the kitchen and got a glimpse of the mess that had been made. "What's going on in here?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Great, since you think it's so funny, you get to help." Derek said with a grin of his own as he gestured to Henry and Ethan. "You can bathe the boys. Everything you need for a bath is in the closet in the bathroom, a new diaper for Ethan is under the sink and I will find clothes for them."

"Why isn't Hotch part of this bathtub detail?" Dave gruffly said, clearly not excited of the prospect of getting his shirt and jeans soaked.

"Because, _my_ son is, thankfully, old enough not to take part in a food fight at 9:15 in the morning." Hotch smirked.

"Cocky bastard." Dave muttered under his breath before he bent down to talk to his son.

"Henry, did you throw your breakfast?"

"Daddy, but I didn't."

"Henry, we don't like fibbers. Mommy and I get very sad when you don't tell the truth. Did you throw your breakfast?" He gently asked again.

"Uh huh. But daddy it was an askident. I had my spoon in my cereal and I didn't look to know where it was and I hit it and it flied into the air." He leaned in closer and whispered, "Like magic."

Henry's face was lit up with such amazement and joy, Dave had to bite his inner cheek to keep from smiling at him. "And then what happened?" Dave questioned.

"Then Grace laugh and do the spoon trick with her cereal and Ethan do it too with his pancakes. It was fun til Ethan tarted to cry and then Livia tarted to cry and then Unca Derek came back. And then he stop Livia cryin and then you come." Henry looked so cute, it was really hard to be mad at him.

"Henry, it isn't polite to play with your food. You need to apologize to Uncle Derek for making a mess and then you are going to help me clean it up. When we are all done, Daddy is going to take you and Ethan upstairs to have a bath so mommy doesn't have to see you so sticky."

"Okay Daddy. I'm sorry." Henry said and gave Dave a big hug and sticky maple syrup kiss to the face.

"It's alright buddy." Dave answered. Once they were done cleaning up the food on the floor, Derek had mopped up the orange juice and taken the girls upstairs to get cleaned, Dave picked Ethan up and carried him as he followed Henry up the stairs. Bath time was a reasonably easy task, the boys played well together and clothes for both boys as well as the diaper for Ethan were on the sink, just as Derek said they would be. While he was getting Ethan changed, Henry asked a difficult question.

"Daddy?"

"yeah bud?"

"Where did Ethan's daddy go? I askeded Lilly and she told me they went to Heaven and are angels. Are you and mommy angels too? And why didn't their daddy come home yet?"

"You know how mommy and daddy take you to church and we learn about God?" Dave asked and waited for Henry to nod before he continued. "God is in a place called Heaven that is where the angels live. They live far up into the sky and they keep watch over people on Earth."

"Otay. But are you and mommy angels? Is you gonna hafta go to Heaven too?"

"Henry, mommy and daddy are going to stay with you for a very long time. I promise buddy. Lilly's daddy and mommy had a really bad car accident and their bodies were hurt. They had really, really, really big boo boos and had to go to the hospital. The doctors and nurses did all that they could but they couldn't fix their bodies so their souls went to Heaven to become angels so they could watch over their kids from Heaven."

"So they don't have no more mommy and daddy?" Henry asked, his voice wavering a little.

"Aunt Pen and Uncle Derek are going to take care of them like a new mommy and daddy." Dave paused for a moment to remember how Pen and Derek had chosen to describe it to the other kids. "They have new earth parents and angel parents. Two mommies and two daddies."

"I don't wanna new mommy and new daddy. I love the ones I have." Henry said with a firm head shake.

"That isn't something you have to worry about buddy. All you have to worry about is playing with your new friends and once we get back to the house, we can finish painting our presents for the babies. Okay buddy, but remember, it's a secret from mommy. No telling."

Henry nodded emphatically and held his hand out for their secret handshake. After completing the ritual with his son, he helped Henry out of the tub and once both boys were dressed, the three of them went downstairs. Grace and Lilly were sitting quietly eating their second attempt at the first meal of the day. The boys went to sit with the girls and eat the food Derek had already put out for them and Dave went and stood beside Derek.

"What took you so long?" Derek teased. "There was a lot more work on my end and you took forever."

"So suddenly everything is a race with you?" Dave wondered. The men were silent for a beat or two before Dave spoke up again. "You nervous?"

"Nervous?"

"Yeah, you're getting married to the girl you've been in love with for years. You'd be an idiot not to be nervous."

"Then I'm an idiot. I don't feel nervous, I feel like I've been with Pen for years."

"And sleeping with other women?" Dave raised an eyebrow. "Is Penelope aware of your open relationship?"

"I screwed up Rossi. I know. I'm trying to make up for it. I understand completely that any doubts Pen has about us, I created. I have to take responsibility for that and I'm trying. Once I acknowledged to myself how I felt about her, all the women of the world were unappealing. Pen and I were made for each other, even if it took us a while to sort everything out."

"Nice speech Romeo."

"Not anymore buzzkill." Derek took a sip from his coffee and started to make Ethan and Henry some new breakfast. "Seriously though, my feet are nowhere near cold. They're very toasty."

"Why are your feet so warm? They don't even have any covering on them." Reid remarked as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Where were you brainiac when all hell was breaking loose down here?" Rossi questioned.

"I slept until 7:52am, took a shower at 8:19am, got dressed at 8:34am, said goodbye to April at 8:45am, was back in my room at 8:49am, made the bed at 9:02-"

"Reid." Derek interrupted the younger man's rant and waited for Spencer to look at him. "Would you mind double checking that everything on this list," Derek handed him almost a full list of items that belonged in individual bags, "are in the correct bags?"

"Sure." Reid glanced at the list once and then headed off to the foyer where there was a pile of 6 backpacks and a diaper bag and got to work.

**3 HOURS LATER:**

It was almost noon and the men had successfully reined in the power of the rambunctious children left in their care and managed to get some pretty big projects done. Olivia's room, with the exception of her crib was boxed up and moved to the garage. The dining room hutch was put in the garage and the family heirloom dishes were wrapped with bubble wrap and placed in boxes marked FRAGILE. The coat closet had been sorted through and anything that wasn't currently fitting them or wouldn't fit a child in the next year was bagged for donation and Reid had successfully persuaded Henry, Noah, Lilly and Jack to help him box up the toys in the playroom. All in all, the man had had a very successful morning.

The four ladies were shocked to say the least when they arrived and saw all the progress that had been made.  
"Are you sure that you need to get movers Pen? It seems like the job is already half done," JJ asked with awe as she surveyed the calm and clean house.

"Where is everybody?" Pen asked. April and Pen headed toward the kitchen and Emily and JJ took off in the direction of the den.

April and Pen spotted Derek on the back patio. Aaron and Spencer were running around playing tag with the children and Derek was sitting talking with Dave who was feeding Olivia at the patio table. After calling out to JJ and Emily, April and Pen opened the slider and went out to join the rest of the group.

Hearing the door slide in its track, Derek turned to face the noise. His face softened when he spotted Pen, there stood his best friend, the love of his life and in a few short hours she was going to be his wife and Derek Morgan was speechless for the first time in a long time.

Pen smiled coyly at Derek as she walked out confidently until she came to a stop directly in front of him. After standing there for a few seconds and Derek's face hadn't changed, she asked, "Handsome?"

"Baby girl. You are stunning."

"So you like my dress? Since we aren't doing the traditional thing, the girls and I decided to get dressed while we were at the spa and then we could get the kids ready while you guys got yourselves ready. But then we have-" Derek's mouth was suddenly on hers and his hands were on her hips pulling her tight against him. Derek had given up on trying waiting her out so he could kiss her but there is only so much a man can be expected to stand for and he was at his wits end. Her dress hugged her curves in all the right places and she had freshened up the red dye color that he liked so much. Derek doubted that he had ever been more attracted to the woman in his arms. Penelope certainly wasn't complaining, Derek's lips felt amazing as they worked their way up and down her neck and she moaned her appreciation. Dave cleared his throat loudly. And then he coughed. When that didn't work, he threw the empty bottle at Derek's back. Pen and Derek fell back to earth and they remembered where they were.

"Spoilsport." JJ scolded as she walked around Penelope and Derek and sat beside her husband. "You would kill Derek if he did that to us." She said as she reached for the baby.

"Derek is Derek and I am me." He answered as he gently laid a drowsy Olivia in JJ's arms.

"They're getting married today. Give them a break."

"What's in it for me?" he whispered.

"I will make your cooperation very worthwhile once we are back in Quantico."

"Will you do that thing were-"

"David Michael Rossi! You don't want Pen and Derek to make out in front of the kids but you are okay with discussing our S-E-X life?" JJ asked incredulously.

"No. The kids are busy playing tag, they wouldn't know if there were an elephant in the driveway. I didn't want to watch them make out." Dave chuckled as JJ swatted him on the arm.

**3 HOURS LATER:**

Derek Morgan realized he had to change his definition of happiness. In this moment, holding Penelope's hand as he recited his vows after the judge and anxiously waited for Pen to repeat hers, he realized that in his 37 years of life, he hadn't felt happiness until this exact moment. Under the warm San Diego sunshine, in the courtyard behind the courthouse, in the presence of his family and friends, Derek Morgan bound his life to that of Penelope Garcia's and he was elated.

"I do." Pen's wavering voice broke through Derek's haze of thought and he held his breath waiting for the judge to say the part he was waiting for.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Derek was pulling Pen close before the statement was fully out of the judge's mouth. The couple embraced and their love for each other was evident to everyone was present even the children.

"Do you think Uncle Derek is ever going to stop kissing her?" Jack whispered to Noah.

"How are they even breathing?" Noah whispered back.

Fran smiled at the conversation going on to her left and turned her attention back to Grace and Ethan who were coloring quietly beside Lilly. Derek and Penelope declared to everyone that they had ordered catering to be arriving at the house and they hired the movers to show up in an hour so they had to get moving.

**TWO HOURS LATER:**

"I'm sorry that you didn't get to have the wedding you've always dreamed of mama." Derek commented as he and Pen worked on dismantling the bed in the master bedroom.

"The wedding wasn't the important part. I got my dream guy." Pen replied without an ounce of hesitation.

"You are like all of my dreams coming true woman. I can't even believe it took me so long to man up and kiss you. Today, we got married and tomorrow our family of two becomes a family of 7. The paperwork for taxes is going to be hell." Derek chuckled as he pulled Penelope in for a kiss, their current task forgotten for a moment.

"I'm sorry too," she said softly as Derek moved to hug her again and kiss her head softly.

"For what baby girl?"

"You aren't the only one who wasted time hot stuff. I could have said something, I could have done something to show you how I felt but I was too afraid of the possible rejection and then I wouldn't even be your best friend anymore. It would be too awkward and we would drift apart. That possibility was so painful that I was happy to settle for being your best friend. Part of you is so much better than having none of you at all." Pen said as tears brimmed her eyelids, threatening to spill over down her cheeks.

"Don't cry baby." Derek murmured and kissed her tears away. "We are here now and we have this amazing life together."

"Okay handsome. No more regretting time we wasted. We are just going to focus on the future. Us. Together."

"I like your thinking Red. I like your thinking a lot." Derek kissed her fiercely on the mouth and this time, it was quite a while before anything else crossed their minds.

**DOWNSTAIRS IN THE KITCHEN:**

"Where did you put the rest of the kitchen dishes?" Aaron asked Spencer as the two of them worked on packing up the rest of the kitchen.

"The plates are in a box marked Kitchen plates. Bowls are in a box marked Kitchen bowls. Coffee cups are –" Spencer rattled off without lifting his eyes from the drawer he was currently cleaning out.

"Where did you place the marked boxes?" Aaron interrupted with a small huff of annoyance. Aaron knew it was his fault, Spencer tended to get distracted by details and not always give you the straight answer you were looking for. He needed direct questions that left no room for interpretation.

"In the front hallway, near the staircase," Spencer answered. "What time are the movers arriving tomorrow?"

"Derek said the movers should be arriving between 12:30 and 1 tomorrow. That leaves them enough time to get back here from the courthouse and meet with the realtor before the movers show up. If everything goes to plan, the moving truck will be filled by tomorrow evening, the donations will be picked up tomorrow morning and we will all be on our return flights tomorrow afternoon." Emily rattled off as she spoke up from the kitchen table.

"That seems like a really tight schedule Em. Are you sure we are going to be able to keep to it?" Aaron speculated.

"Don't you dare curse me Hotchner!" She threatened. "Pen has had to worry about enough, we are going to keep to this schedule and we are going to get everyone settled in Quantico as soon as possible."

"Yes maam." He said with only a slight tone of sarcasm. Luckily Emily let it slide and she turned her attention to Reid.  
"What makes a house sell?" She questioned and waited approximately 4 seconds for his answer.

"Houses in the San Diego area have steadily decreased in value since 2007. The median selling price for a house currently in San Diego is 627,960 dollars. Top desiring features are an open floor plan, walking distance to the beach, off the street parking and a remodeled kitchen. Judging that against what this house currently has, I would say that if you priced it a little below fair market value, you would be looking to sell very quickly." Reid rattled off as he finished sorting through the drawer and pushed it back into the counter.

"What would fair market value be Reid?" Emily questioned as she took notes on a paper she had handy.

"I would say if you priced it at 618,000, you could get some major offers within the next week."

"That's great Reid. I guess you read through the Real Estate Weekly magazine that I left on your bed huh?" Emily smiled.

"It was you? I thought April was trying to tell me she wants to move in together." Reid trailed off and made his way out of the kitchen to find his girlfriend.

"Uh oh. I hope I didn't cause any trouble." Emily worried.

"I'm sure they will be fine. They're good together and I'm pretty sure they were both thinking about moving in together anyway." Aaron comforted his fiancé as he pulled her up from her chair and kissed her passionately.

"I love you Aaron Hotchner." She whispered when they separated.

"I love you too Emily Prentiss-soon-to-be-Hotchner." Aaron smiled when Emily tugged his face back to hers.

**IN THE BACKYARD:**

David Rossi felt content. He was 51 years old and he had never fully felt this feeling of contentment. It was all due to his wife, Jennifer Jareau Rossi had stormed into his life and he found it hard to remember life without her. She brought with her, one of the most inquisitive and loving little boys he had ever met and now she was 4 months away from giving him two girls. Two daughters, David Rossi was completely content as he watched his little boy play with all of the soon-to-be Morgan children and Jack Hotchner as he sipped his scotch. JJ sat in the chair opposite him with her feet in his lap sipping her lemonade.

"I feel like we should do something big for Pen and Derek." JJ commented and waited for her husband's response.

"Bigger than paying for everybody's wedding ensemble?" David remarked skeptically. "Babe, you know I love you but what is bigger than that? What should we do? Make the movers get there faster?" he said sarcastically. Dave knew he was in trouble when his wife's eyes lit up at his last suggestion.

"Dave, United Movers is a national company. They must have the resources to beat us to Virginia."

"Jen, you are talking about making a 3 day journey in a day and a half. It just isn't possible." Dave reasoned. Not liking the sad look on her face as she realized he was right, he continued. "Well if the movers leave by tonight, we need to give them the next 3, maybe 4 days to get to Virginia. What if we follow them in our cars instead of flying? We could turn it into an adventure and then when we all make it back to Quantico, everything is set up for Derek, Pen and the kids."

"You want to journey on a four day road trip with 7 small kids and 9 adults?" JJ asked.

"I don't particularly want to. But, I think it will make you happy and we don't get the opportunity to ever see the country as we fly over it."

"David Matthew Rossi, I love you so much." JJ said a she beamed at him. "Can you make a few calls to some rental car companies, maybe we should rent an RV? I'm going to find Reid and see if he knows anything about what goes into an RV." She rattled off as she wiggled free of the chair and came to a standing position in front of her husband. "Thank you for knowing what everyone needs even before they do." She said quietly to him.

"Cara mia, you are the only one I'm interested in making sure is happy. It just happens to make the rest of this crack-pot crew happy too." Dave muttered and stood and enthusiastically embraced his wife.

**THE GARAGE:**

Reid found April organizing the boxes in stacks in the garage. She lifted a particularly heavy one a little too fast and Reid moved quickly to help her place it on top of another box.

"Hey April?" Reid began and smiled a little when she looked at him. "Can we talk?"

"Sure Spence. What's up?" April asked as they sat on the stairs together.

"Well, I was talking to Emily earlier and when I found the magazine, I thought you left it for me, trying to send me a message. So I made a few phone calls and that was just presumptuous of me and now I really don't know how to carry on this conversation." Reid blurted out.

April smiled and grasped his shaking hand in hers and calmly said, "Spence. Just start at the beginning. You found a magazine right? What kind?"

"A real estate magazine, it's about California's real estate market not Virginia's. That should have been my first clue. But it wasn't and now it's all a mess." Reid beat himself up further.

"Spencer. Tell me what happened. Who did you call?"

Reid took a deep breath and looked straight ahead and said, "I called a real estate agent in Quantico. I told her I was looking for a house to buy with my girlfriend. She said she would send me a list of the current properties she has as soon as she could make a list."  
"Spencer." April said quietly and when he didn't look at her she tried again. "Spencer. Look at me." She quietly demanded.  
When Reid turned to his girlfriend he didn't see the anger he was expecting, he saw tears of joy in her eyes and a large smile on her lips. "You aren't mad?" he asked with his voice full of wonder.

"How could I be mad? Although, I would like to hear the question." She smiled.

For once in his adult life, Spencer Reid got the next question perfect. There wasn't a hint of awkwardness or hesitation as he asked, "April Matthews will you buy a house with me?" Her acceptance of his offer was barely heard before he pulled her towards him and the couple happily embraced and blocked out the rest of the world.


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHORS NOTE:**** I'm working on giving it more detail when I describe the scenes so please let me know if you notice a difference. (Positive and Negative!) When I re-read the previous chapters, I found that some details would have been helpful and I failed to include them. I'm not really a descriptive writer, I tend to write more dialogue but description is necessary for a successful story so please let me know how this chapter reads! Thanks!**

Disclaimer:  _I do not own Criminal Minds in any way, shape or form._

Chapter 6:

**THE NEXT MORNING;**

Derek and Penelope had taken all 5 of the soon-to-be Morgan children to the courthouse for the guardianship ceremony. Everyone else had elected to stay at the house and help in whatever way they could. Reid and JJ were scrambling at the kitchen table, to get the itinerary completed for when the Morgan clan returned from the courthouse.

"After we leave Branson, Missouri, our next stop is Evansville, Indiana. Then we go home to Quantico." JJ dictated while not looking up from the atlas she had balanced on her bump as she plotted out their trek.

"Mapquest says 3362.52 miles and 52 hours and 19 minutes of driving time. Are you sure that this is the best way to travel back to Virginia?" Reid questioned as he glanced up from his laptop and pushed the persistent hair from his eyes.

"It might not be the most efficient but I'm sure it's what is best for Pen and the kids. Derek would be fine either way but it's important that they have a home to arrive in. Not an empty house with fresh paint on the walls." JJ took a deep breath and wiggled out of the chair to an upright position. "How's itinerary coming?" She asked as she opened the fridge and peered inside.

"I'm almost done. I have us making stops about every 2 hours and two long stretches but it's the best I can do." Reid concluded as he examined his masterpiece.

"Let me see." JJ said as she approached him, yogurt cup in hand. She looked impressed as she read through the carefully laid schedule.

Day One:

Depart 5 am

Drive 552.43 miles (8hrs 27min)

Arrive Grand Canyon, AZ

Spend the night at the campground (amenities include: swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs, fire pits, Laundromat, bathrooms, showers, shopping and a full serviced kitchen)

Day Two:

Depart 5am

Drive 234.24 miles (3hrs 48min)

Arrive Phoenix Zoo Phoenix, AZ

Depart 1pm

Drive 113.02 miles (1hr 50min)

Arrive Tucson, AZ

Remainder of day and evening in Tucson

*Tucson Children's Museum

Day Three:

Depart 10am

Drive 448.55 miles (6hrs 28min)

Arrive Albuquerque, NM

Remainder of day and evening in Albuquerque

Day Four:

Depart 8am

Drive 288.89 miles (4hrs 13min)

Arrive Amarillo, TX

*Don Harrington Discovery Center & Wonderland Park

Depart 10pm

Drive 585.01 miles (8hrs 45min)

Day Five:

Arrive Branson, MO

*Castle Rock Resort & Water park

Remainder of day and evening in Branson, MO

Day Six:

Depart 5am

Drive 425.02 miles (6hrs 43min)

Arrive Evansville, IN

*Rocky Falls Campground (amenities include: Laundromat, showers, bathrooms, playground, lake, swimming pool and charcoal grills for rent)

Evening in Evansville, IN

Day Seven:

Morning and early afternoon in Evansville, IN

Depart 3pm

Drive 696.98 miles (11hrs 16min)

Arrive Quantico, VA

JJ looked up from the itinerary with a look of shock across her face. "It's going to take us a week?"

"The actual driving distance is only 51hours and 35 minutes, or less than two and a half days. However; since we are traveling in two large RVs and we will have large number of small children with us, I took that into account when planning our route. Each stop has at least a couple of attractions that will interest the children." Reid concluded. When JJ still hadn't responded, he continued. "Also, there will be 8 adults who can share the driving responsibility; I believe that we can come up with a fair and equal system so we all drive approximately the same amount of time." He assured her gently and took a sip of his drink.

"Spence, what about hotel reservations?" JJ asked while sitting at the table again and beginning to eat her yogurt.

"I made reservations for two hotel rooms in all of the necessary cities."

"Why only two rooms? There are a lot of people Spence." 

"Since each of the RV's can sleep 6 adults, we only need two rooms so we can shower and all of the adults can switch off sleeping in the hotel beds." Reid reasoned and then gathered the loose papers on the table. "Penelope and Derek should be arriving soon. Do you think we are done with the planning?"

"Yeah, Spencer. You did a really good job." JJ stood and pulled the younger man in for a hug. "April told me what you asked her. Congratulations." She whispered in his ear before pulling away.

"Thanks JJ. That means a lot." Reid blushed slightly before hastily backing out of the room, papers in hand eager to make copies for everyone before Derek and Penelope returned.

**AT THE COURTHOUSE:**

"Uncle Derek?" Noah asked as he shifted side to side, impatiently waiting for the necessary paperwork to be signed.

"Yeah bud?" Derek asked as he looked over at his oldest soon-to-be son.

"Did he mean that you are my dad now?" Noah asked with a skeptical and confused look on his face.

"That's what all this paperwork is buddy. Once all of these papers are signed by the judge, Aunt Pen and I can take you home and that means we can be a family together." Derek explained and having completed all the forms he had to, took a step away from the table and sat on a bench to the side. Once Noah sat with him he continued. "Everybody needs a dad and since your dad had to go to Heaven and can't be with you right now, he can't teach you things or protect you. I'm going to do those things."

"So you're like Dad #2?"

"Yeah buddy. I'm dad #2."

"Okay Dad #2, can we have mac and cheese for lunch?" Noah asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation of his favorite meal.

"I think that will work Noah." Derek chuckled and pulled the boy in for a tight embrace.

Once Pen completed her forms and the judge had signed off on them, the 7 member Morgan clan moved towards the parking lot and loaded up into the minivan.

"Mom?" Grace asked from the backseat. Pen turned around from the passenger seat so fast, her neck popped.

"Who?" Pen asked.

"You, Noah said that Unca Dewek is Daddy #2 so you is Mommy #2 right?" Grace asked.

"Yeah baby, I'm mommy #2." Pen answered, her eyes brimming with tears.

Grace nodded and then remembered her original reason for calling out. "We goin home now?" She asked from her car seat.

"Yeah, baby. We're going home." Pen said softly and turned back around and took a steady breath. Her hand reached over the console and found Derek's waiting one; they grasped hands and happily drove towards the house.

**11am:**

Derek and Pen had barely arrived home when the moving truck pulled up in front of the house. After moving the necessary vehicles and showing the moving crew which boxes and furniture to load onto the truck, Derek climbed up the front steps. He stopped suddenly when he heard a car door shut behind him and a voice calling out "Mr. Morgan?" He turned to find the source of the voice and spotted a young Latina woman exiting her SUV. After securing her files in her arms and successfully locking her car door behind herself, Michelle Ramirez took a steadying breath and prepared to meet her new client.  
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Morgan. My name is Michelle Ramirez." She struck her hand out for him to shake which Derek shook almost as immediately as it was extended. "I'm told you are looking to sell this house?" She asked.

"Yes. I don't want to be rude but we are kind of in the middle of packing up everything. Did you want to come back when we are done?" Derek questioned as the pair made their way inside and were greeted into the chaos of the full and bustling house.

"That won't be necessary Mr. Morgan. I can tour the house, make some notes, take a few pictures and I will set up an Open House for tomorrow. I've already got a few clients interested in purchasing a house of this size and in this exact location."

"Really? Wow, that would be great. Well let me find Penelope and she can show you around." Derek politely excused himself and went to find Pen. Once all the proper introductions were completed and Penelope had led Ms. Ramirez on her own private tour of the house, Derek went in search of a project that needed completion. He found his mom entertaining most of the kids in the backyard. Noah and Jack were sitting on top of the playground slides as Henry, Grace, Ethan and Lilly were all finger-painting on the back deck with Fran patiently watching over them. Derek waved his appreciation to his mom and took off in the direction of the basement.

"Dammit Aaron! If you just let me," Emily began.

"I can do it." He calmly insisted as he was lying underneath the sink in the playroom bathroom. "Aaarggghhhhh!" He shouted as he attempted to deflect the steady stream of water from getting in his eyes. He hastily retreated from under the sink and Emily calmly handed him a towel before getting on her hands and knees and reaching over and shutting off the water intake valve. Aaron looked at her and sputtered, "What did you do?" as he ran the towel over his drenched hair.

"It sounds like she fixed what made you run for the hills screaming like a girl." Derek declared from the doorway as he smiled at his friends.

"Let's see you get sprayed in the face when you aren't expecting it. I'm willing to bet that even the big-bad-Derek-Morgan run for the hills screaming like a little girl." Aaron joked a little, his pride not hurt in the friendly jab.

"Sweetie, while it is true that Derek would scream the same way that you did," Emily began and put up a hand to silence Derek's comment, "I did try to prevent it from happening, so it really is your fault." She said gently and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah man. That one is all on you. When my baby girl tells me something, I listen." Derek said wisely as he backed out of the room and made his way back up the stairs. Derek heard crying coming from his bedroom and jogged up the flight of stairs. When he opened the door, instead of finding Olivia crying in her playpen, he found JJ and Dave changing the unhappy baby's clothes.

"Dave, it doesn't go like that. Here let me have it." JJ insisted and reached for the dress that Dave held out of her reach.

"Cara Mia, I have to learn how to do it sometime, just explain it to me and I'm sure I can figure it out." Dave reasoned and pleaded with his wife.

"Dave, it's a criss-cross elastic strap summer dress." JJ stated as if it should be obvious as to why she couldn't just _explain_ it to him. It had to be demonstrated. "Just give me the dress and I will show you how it goes on and then you can put it on Olivia. Okay?" JJ reasoned and smiled when Dave handed over the garment and picked up a very sad Olivia and began rocking her in his tight embrace. He anxiously watched JJ arrange the straps just so and then lied Olivia down to attempt it on his own. After successfully accomplishing the dress, he kissed JJ hard on the mouth and the kiss carried on so long, it had Derek clearing his throat from the doorway. JJ blushed and pulled out of Dave's embrace and met Derek's eyes across the room. "Where's Pen?"

"She's giving the real estate lady a tour of the house. Do you know where Reid and April are? I can't find them anywhere." Derek asked as he took Olivia from Dave and kissed her gently on the head.

"They went to the RV rental place to pick up the RV's. I told the kid that I would go with him but he insisted that April has experience driving large vehicles. Apparently her father taught her how to drive in a delivery truck." Dave said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Delivery truck? Really?" JJ asked with a smile. "I'm going to have to get some more details from Ms. April about her childhood when she returns. Well, how is everything going for packing? Reid and I finished the itinerary this morning and it should take about a week but there are Laundromats at points on our route so a three or four interchangeable items of clothes should work." JJ rifled through the folders she had placed on the dresser and handed Derek a packing list before the three of them moved out of the room and towards the stairs. "Emily made these up and suggested that all the kids have their own bag and this is what's included. Dave did Henry's and I know she already did Noah's when she did Jack's but I don't know if she ever got around to getting anybody else done." She finished as they reached the bottom of the stairs and almost ran directly into Emily.

"Hey Em. Did you get to pack bags for any of the other kids? I want to make sure our bags are all packed before the movers pack away all the clothes." Derek asked her as he reluctantly passed the baby off to an impatient JJ.

"I packed Ethan and Grace's bags, Lilly was working on hers with Pen and I'm not sure if they finished or not and I packed an extra diaper bag with a lot of extra clothes and a full package of diapers and wipes for Olivia. There is a separate bag with toothbrushes, hairbrushes, shampoo and all that sort of stuff and all the kids have their own backpacks with toys and coloring books to do on the road." Emily recited as she ticked items off on her fingers. "Aaron is finishing fixing the leaky sink downstairs, Pen and the real estate agent are in the backyard signing paperwork; Reid just called me 10 minutes ago. April and he were leaving the RV place and should be back here in," she paused and checked her watch. "20 minutes." She finished and looked expectantly at Derek for future questions.

"Wow, Em. I think you thought of everything." Derek said surprised at the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

"That's just because I'm better than you." She smirked at him and slapped him lightly on the chest. "Keep trying buddy." She encouraged with a little laugh and went outside to join Pen.

Derek shook his head with a chuckle and followed Emily onto the back patio. After signing the necessary forms with the real estate agent and seeing her out, he checked in with the movers. After sorting out an issue of confusion over a couch that was intended for Goodwill and not supposed to be on the truck, Derek went back outside to sit with his wife.

"Hello Mrs. Morgan." Derek said softly in her ear as he sat in his chair besides Penelope.

"God, how I love to hear you say that." She murmured softly as she leaned over to show him exactly how much she loved him. Shrieks of laughter as the kids chased each other around the yard, gently reminded the couple to keep the kiss chaste and Penelope groaned when Derek refused to allow her tongue entrance. Derek chuckled and kissed away her frown before finally settling back in his chair and handing Penelope the packing list Emily had typed up. "What's this?" she asked as she looked at the paper.

"Em made a list of all the stuff she thought each of the kids should have packed for clothes. She said she packed everybody but Lilly. Did you get to finish packing hers?"

"Yeah, we finished this morning but I wasn't able to find her bathing suit. Did Emily find everybody else's?"

"Everybody else's what?" Emily asked as she let the screen door shut behind her.

"Bathing suits. I couldn't find Lilly's when we were packing her bag."

"I found it when I did the last load of laundry. I just finished putting it in her bag. Reid and April just pulled up by the way. Want to go check out the RVs?" Emily asked with excitement. Derek and Pen readily agreed and the quietly snuck back inside without alerting the kids of their departure and made it out into the front yard.

It was like looking in a mirror. Two Coachmen RVs, full kitchens, TV/DVD combo, pull out sofa beds, queen beds in back and a loft bed above the driver's compartment. They were each white with blue accents and they were perfect. Except for one small problem.

"The water tanks on both of them don't work." April said abruptly to the three people joining her and Spencer on the front porch.

"What do you mean don't work?" Derek asked at the same time that Emily said, "That's why we got such a good deal on such short notice. The new tanks are in Virginia and they had to be brought there to be fixed anyway."

Derek turned and looked at Emily. "What do we do if we go to a campground? Where are we supposed to shower and use the bathroom?"

"All the campgrounds that JJ found have full bathroom facilities and when we aren't at a campground, there are rest stops and hotel rooms." Emily reasoned. "It will all work out. I promise." She assured him and then exuberantly said, "Let's explore!" before running/skipping her way to the RVs.

**1 HOUR LATER:**

"Aunt Emmly?" Lilly asked shyly.

"Yes Lilly?" Emily answered with a smile.

"Can I ride in your RV?"

"What did Aun-mom and dad say?" Emily caught her slip and corrected it before it could come completely out of her mouth.

"Daddy says I should ask you but to listen if you say no. He says you have a list." She said matter of factly.

"I do have a list but let's see if we can work it out. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Once the lists had been made, the movers had pulled away in a stuffed truck, the RVs were packed, food was eaten, bathrooms were visited and everyone piled into the RVs and their journey was about to begin.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHORS NOTE: hi everybody, I'm sorry it's been a long time since the last update but between work and school and being sick, this chapter wasn't complete until today. Let me know what you think so far, good or bad constructive criticism is welcome! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.**

**Chapter 7:**

After a long, busy day filled with packing up a house, orchestrating the movers, the donation pick up of furniture, donation of two of the cars and the RV packing, everyone was exhausted. On top of everything else, JJ had taken a second look at the driving time for the next morning and concluded that they needed to leave at 3 instead of 5 if they wanted to be able to see the canyon in the light. This led Reid and Hotch immediately looking for sleeping arrangements because they were going to be the first to drive. Emily, Hotch, JJ and Dave were sleeping in one RV and Fran, Reid and April were in the other RV. All of the kids had wanted to have a sleepover in the vacant living room. Derek and Hotch had set up the large tent in the middle of the room and after finding sleeping bags and extra blankets for the kids to sleep in, they all had eagerly claimed their spots for sleeping and after some intense laughter and playing, they all were sound asleep. After getting Olivia settled in her swing and checking on the other 6 kids in the tent, Derek looked up and spotted Pen watching him from the doorway.

"We'll bring them back here one day." Derek whispered in Pen's ear, echoing her thoughts as he enveloped her in a hug. Pen nodded her approval and then stepped out of his arms only to extend her hand out towards him. When he took her hand and let her lead him, she led him to the back patio and onto the back deck. They kept the porch lights turned off and sat silently side by side on the deck stairs. The nearby crickets stopped singing their songs at their arrival but resumed when all was quiet again.

Pen unlatched her hand from his and snuggled into his side instead, Derek took the hint and slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close. Kissing her forehead with a sigh, Derek waited for her to speak. When she still hadn't talked in a few minutes, he nudged her chin upward and waited for her eyes to catch his gaze.

"I've never seen you so quiet motor mouth. What gives momma?" He teased and then kissed her. "Do you know how much I love to kiss you?" he murmured and then pulled her in for a deeper kiss. She moaned in appreciated when he finally allowed entrance to her wandering tongue and fireworks exploded behind her eyelids. After a few minutes, Penelope and Derek regretfully separated. She settled her head into his chest again before speaking.

"I don't want to wait a month Derek." She confessed quietly and bit her lip lightly as she waited for his answer.

"Me either baby." He answered with a chuckle. "How about we get our own hotel room when we get to Arizona and we get our crew of misfits to watch the kids for the night?"

"You think they'd be willing?" she asked hopefully as she glanced up into his eyes.

"Baby girl, we're family. Of course they'll do it." He answered without hesitation. "Besides, we were on kid duty tonight. They owe us."

"I dare you to phrase it that way to Rossi." She chuckled.

"Now baby girl, that is just cruel." Derek scolded and pulled her in for another kiss.

**2:25 am DAY OF DEPARTURE:**

Emily Prentiss was one of those few people that rose out of bed like she was popping out of a toaster. It didn't matter if she had 3 or 9 hours of sleep, she was instantly alert and ready to move. Her fiancé, however; was an entirely different story. Aaron Hotchner wasn't even coherent until he had consumed half of his first cup of coffee in the morning. Knowing this, Emily had woke up 20 minutes prior to Aaron's alarm and had snuck out of the RV and ran to the local coffee and donut shop at the corner that was open 24 hours and bought coffee, bagels, orange juice and donuts for everyone. Sneaking inside the front door, she stopped for a minute and admired the mass of sleeping children. Limbs were sticking out of blankets at odd angles and light snoring was coming from the tent like a soft lullaby. Her eyes found Jack's face, her son. _Her_ son, Jack Hotchner was officially her son as of yesterday. Her heart warmed at the thought of being a mom to the wonderful 6 year old and she kept a smile on her face as she walked to the kitchen and organized her supplies on the counter. She spied Pen and Derek curled up together on the air mattress in the dining room and thought _they look like they were made for each other. Yin and Yang, perfectly opposite._ The thought made her smile again and she was still smiling when Aaron came up behind her in the kitchen. Hearing a noise, she turned quickly and when she spied her grumpy and still sleepy, fiancé, she wordlessly handed him his coffee. He mumbled his thanks and took a long sip before pulling her in for an unexpected kiss.

"What was that for?" She whispered as she brought her hand up to caress his cheek.

"For knowing exactly what I need before I can ask." He kissed her lightly on the lips and then continued. "oh, yeah and for being a great mom."

"You know?" Emily asked.

"Andrew called me last night and left a voicemail. I checked it this morning. Why didn't you tell me?" Aaron wondered as he studiously sipped his coffee and slowly became more alert.

"I didn't want to overshadow anything that Pen and Derek were doing. I've waited to be Jack's mom for such a long time, I felt like it was more of a formality rather than anything was really changing." She reasoned and took a long pull from her own cup.

"I guess that's true." Aaron reasoned and then caught a glimpse of the papers on the counter. "How are we doing for a schedule? Is everything packed?"

"We should wake everybody up soon but we already packed everything last night. You're driving first right?" Emily asked as she ran her eyes down the packing list one last time.

"Yeah, Reid is driving one and I'm driving the other. Did you guys ever decide who's riding in which rv?"

"Olivia's car seat base is in the blue one and Fran, Derek, Pen, Ethan, Grace, Reid and April are going to be in that one. This leaves me, you, Jack, Henry, Noah, Lilly, JJ, Dave for the gray one. I'm sure that we will switch along the way but this is how we are starting out at least." Emily was satisfied that all the things on the list had been completed, looked at Aaron with a gleam in her eye. "Let's get everyone moving."

**3:11 am MORNING OF DEPARTURE:**

"Daddy?" Henry called from his seat.

"What's wrong little man?" David asked as he knelt in front of his son.

"Where is we going?"

"Remember when mommy showed you that big map with those pictures?" Dave asked and when Henry nodded, he continued. "We are driving in the RV to get back home and we are stopping at all of the places with pictures on the way." When Henry looked like he completely understood, Dave offered the little boy a donut and juice box and all was right again in Henry Rossi's little world.

After getting Jack and Noah settled at the table with a card game, JJ turned and spotted her husband talking to Henry. When Dave caught her watching him, he raised his eyebrow in mock surprise before coming over to her and wrapping her in a tight hug. "My, Mrs. Rossi were you oogling your husband?" he whispered as he kissed her forehead.

"I was actually watching you with our son." She whispered back. "But now that you mention it, you look really good in those jeans." JJ intentionally dropped her voice as one of her hands ran down to the belt buckle of his jeans as the other worked its way up his chest.

"You are evil." He murmured and silently recited the names of the saints in an effort to control himself again. JJ laughed lightly and pulled his face down to kiss him passionately.

"If you're good, I might be willing to help you with that problem." She teased and then turned abruptly leaving her husband standing in the middle of the RV trying to get his bearings.

**3:13 am MORNING OF DEPARTURE:**

"Auntie April?" Jack asked tentatively from where he stood in the driveway.

"Jack?" she asked tentatively as she placed the duffle bag she was carrying on the ground.

"Why are we leaving this early? I know my mom likes to be up when it's still dark out but normally she lets me and dad sleep." He wondered with only a little reluctance.

"We just have to get moving buddy. It's going to take a long time to get back to Virginia and we are going to have fun on the way. Okay?"

"Okay. Are you riding in our RV?" he asked hopefully. Jack liked his Aunt April, she always had fun games to play with him and she didn't always treat him like a little kid.

"I'm in the other RV but when we stop maybe we can switch it up. But do you think you can help me get these backpacks in the van?" April asked and smiled when the little boy immediately agreed to help.

Once all the bags were stowed on the correct vehicle, everyone had used the bathroom, diapers were changed, breakfast had been eaten, keys had been left under the mat, car keys were left under the floor mat and everyone was securely sitting in the RV's, the two massive vans pulled away from the curb and the crew of 16 were finally on their way home.

**9:30am Day One:**

"Mommy-Pen?" Lilly asked from her spot on the couch beside Penelope.

"Yes Lilly-bear?" Pen asked as she turned and gave her complete attention to the inquisitive three year old.

"What is a grand candyon?" she raised her eyebrows in anticipation of her answer.

"Grand Can-yon," she emphasized the correct pronunciation and then continued. "It's a rock canyon that was formed over thousands of years by the rushing water of the Colorado River."

"So it's a river with a big rock wall?" Lilly asked having come up with her own description very fast.

"Yeah, it's a river with a big rock wall. They have a campground there with a playground and maybe we can find some games to play in the RV. How does that sound?"

"Okay." Lilly agreed happily and then became quiet until another thought struck her. "Mommy?" she called out again and when Pen looked at her, she said quietly. "I'm still sad that my first mommy isn't here but you are a really great mommy too."

"Thanks Lilly-bear. I love you." Pen said as she fought the urge to cry.

"Love you too." Lilly said happily and then turned back to play with her doll in her seat.

**Noon:**

Derek breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled his RV into the campground. Hotch drove the second RV right behind him and parked it next to Derek's spot. Everyone excitedly poured out of the RVs and walked up the road to the lookout point. The canyon was massive and the adults stood there in awe of its beauty. The children quickly lost interest and Reid, having visited the Grand Canyon in the past, agreed to take the kids back to the campground so they could explore the playground. Penelope was reluctant to let Spencer take all of the children by himself but after some coaching from Derek and April agreed to go with Spencer and the kids, she agreed.

**1:23 pm:**

The sun was shining high in the sky and the air was dry and warm. April sighed in contentment as she sat with Spencer on a park bench and watched the kids run and play on the playground with the other children. She leaned into him and settled her head on his chest while his fingers absent mindedly played in her hair. After a few minutes of being entirely too comfortable, April had a feeling hit the pit of her stomach. She abruptly sat up and looked around. She stood up and started to do a head count as she scanned the playground. Henry was pushing a toy truck. _One_. Jack was playing with Ethan in the sandbox. _Two, three_. Noah was swinging. _Four. __Where was Lilly and Grace?_

"Spencer!" she turned quickly to her boyfriend and the fear in her voice was immediately picked up on by the youngest profiler.

"What? What's wrong?" He worried as he stood suddenly and grasped her arms. "April. You have to tell me. What's wrong?"

"Grace. Lilly and Grace. I can't see them on the playground. I don't know where – I can't find them." April admitted tearfully and she looked past Spencer to see the rest of the adults entering the playground. "Penelope. Oh my god. I'm so sorry!"

"What, April, what's wrong?" Penelope asked as she looked at her friend in bewilderment.

"Lilly and Grace aren't here. We didn't see them leave. I don't know where they are." Spencer recited quickly and fearfully as his eyes scanned the area. Hotch, Dave, Emily, Spencer, Derek and Fran quickly decided to split up and search for the girls. Penelope had frozen upon hearing that Lilly and Grace were missing. Her mind rushed to the worst conclusions and she stood frozen in fear. _What if someone took them? Are they afraid? Those sweet little girls. Their brown perfect straight hair and green eyes, those innocent faces. What if I never see them again?_ Penelope couldn't stop those thoughts from paralyzing her and while her conscious mind recognized the fact that Fran was rubbing her back and hugging her and that JJ had taken to asking the nearby people if they had seen the girls, she couldn't talk, she couldn't breathe and she couldn't seem to stop the tears from falling down her face. April sat on the bench behind where Penelope and Fran were standing and put her face in her hands. _I can't believe I'm so stupid. What the hell is the matter with me? I let those two beautiful girls go missing because I wasn't paying enough attention and now we don't even know if they are safe or scared or hurt. _

**1:31pm:**

Lilly was conflicted. She knows she isn't supposed to leave her sister alone but she left her doll at the playground and really wanted to hold it again. She walked back over to check on her sleepy little sister who was cuddled in the bed of the RV and deciding that it would be okay, just this once to run, really, really fast and get her doll and then she would come right back to stay with Grace. She peeked in on her little sister one last time and then quietly shut the RV door behind her and ran back to the playground.

**1:32pm:**

Fran was watching the road over Penelope's shoulder as the younger woman sobbed uncontrollably into her shoulder. She looked in wonder as a young girl came slowly into view. The little girl was about the right size, her hair color resembled that of Lilly and she was wearing a yellow t-shirt with blue shorts. That girl was Lilly.

"Penelope, Penelope! Lilly's right there. Look, sweetie. Penelope look." Fran commanded and made the woman look in the direction of the little girl. Lilly, who knew nothing of the commotion that she had created, walked to the bench and happily grabbed her doll from beneath it. Quickly turning around and running back up the road, Penelope quickly followed her. She called out her name but Lilly didn't hear her. The little girls entire focus was returning to her little sister as soon as possible. When she came to the RV door and pulled it open, she climbed inside and before she could pull it shut behind her, her mom appeared in the doorway. She looked scared and her face was wet, her eyes red from crying.

"Mom?" Lilly questioned.

Penelope wordlessly grabbed the 3 year old and held her tightly to her chest. Lilly squirmed a little, wanting to know what had made her mom so upset but Penelope didn't let her go. Her sobs increased in volume and after some prodding from Fran, Penelope finally set Lilly down.

"Where is Grace sweetie?" Fran asked.

"She was sleepy so I took her back here to take a nap. I was a good helper right Mommy?" Lilly asked with bright eyes.

"Lilly, everyone was really worried about you. We were all really scared for you two. You didn't tell Uncle Spencer or Aunt April where you were going did you?" Penelope had gotten control of her tears and was now in the process of trying to convey the seriousness of what had just occurred. "Lilly, when you aren't with an adult, it isn't safe. You need to tell one of the grown-ups that you know, before you leave. Everyone is out looking for you right now because you didn't tell anyone before you just left." Penelope left out the thought that someone had taken them. In her opinion, Lilly had been through enough in the past week, she didn't need to know that some adults wanted to hurt kids.

"I'm sorry mommy. I didn't mean it. I was just trying to be a good helper. Grace said she was sleepy when we was at the playground and I just trying to help when I bring her back here to sleep." Lilly explained slightly teary eyed as she slowly grasped that she was in trouble.

"I know Lilly." Penelope took a deep breath. "I need you tell the adult that is in charge of you where you are going. So if Uncle Aaron takes you to the library and you want to go play with a toy. Who are you going to ask if you can leave?"

"Uncle Aaron" Lilly answered quickly.

"And if Daddy takes you to the zoo and you want to go look at the Giraffes instead of the elephants?"

"I will ask Daddy."

"Okay baby. Please do not ever worry Mommy like that again, okay?" Penelope hugged Lilly and kissed her forehead just as Derek burst in the door behind them.

"Oh my god. Lilly! You're okay." Derek closed his eyes and sent a silent _thanks_ to the sky above before picking up Lilly and hugging her tightly.

"Daddy?" Lilly quietly said.

"Yeah baby."

"I'm sorry that I worried you. I will ask to leave next time." She promised and grasped his face in between her tiny hands. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Lilly. Please don't ever scare Daddy like that again okay, Ladybug?" Derek asked with a smile as he referenced his favorite nickname for Lilly.

"Okay, Daddy-bug." She answered without hesitation and giggled when he tickled her.

Derek put Lilly back down and went to hug Penelope but she moved away from him and acted as if she didn't see his attempt. She busied herself with organizing the food for lunch and when the rest of the team arrived, she surrounded herself with people and her body language clearly said she didn't want to talk to Derek.

**5:45pm:**

Dave and Derek were manning the grills as they cooked steaks, cheeseburgers and hot dogs for dinner. April, after apologizing profusely to Penelope and Derek, had busied herself with making a fruit salad and JJ had been busy making her potato salad in the small kitchenette of the RV. Emily and Penelope were making margaritas at the picnic table in between the two RVs. Emily noticed that her friend had been unusually quiet for most of the afternoon and Emily had reached her limit. She wanted to figure out what was bothering her friend.

"Alright, PG. Let it out." Emily said in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"What are you talking about?" Penelope asked distractedly.

"The fact that you won't look at Derek, you are way too quiet and you keep counting children." Emily ticked off the reasons on her fingers and poured the last of the margarita from the blender into a glass.

"Honestly? I'm just angry. I'm angry at myself for letting them go to the playground. I'm angry at Lilly for wandering off. I'm angry at April and Reid because they didn't notice the girls leaving. I'm angry at Derek for pushing me to let the kids go to the playground without me. I'm angry at myself for being useless when they needed me the most. I'm angry that I feel so angry. I'm just angry and I'm trying really, really, really, hard not to say something that I will regret once I'm not mad anymore." Penelope rushed the words out of her mouth and when she was done she deflated and tears formed in her eyes. "And I definitely am mad that I can't seem to stop crying."

"Sweetie." Emily started and sat next to Penelope and gave her a little hug. She gestured for Derek to come over when he caught her eye. "You should talk to Derek. It's okay to be mad but you have to talk to him. You love him PG. Talk to Derek." Emily whispered the last part as Derek came up behind them.

Penelope turned around and stood to face her husband. "Hot stuff? Can we take a walk?" She asked knowing that she confused him with her actions earlier.

"Yeah Gorgeous , let's go for a walk. Em, will you watch the kids, they're coloring with sidewalk chalk and JJ has the baby." After getting Emily's agreement, the couple slowly walked away from their campsite. After they had walked for a few minutes in silence, Derek started to speak. "I was scared this morning." He admitted quietly as they sat on a park bench and he patiently waited for Penelope to respond.

"At least you were able to go look for her. I just stood there being completely useless." Penelope muttered and getting frustrated with herself again, she teared up and angrily brushed the tears off her cheeks.

"Baby girl, don't cry." Derek murmured and pulled her into his strong embrace and Penelope sobbed into his shirt.

"I hate feeling like this, I'm so mad and helpless and how can I be a mom if I can't help find my child when they are missing? Derek, I don't know if I can do this. I've been a mom for two days and I already lost two kids! Two out of five Derek! And then I'm mad at you for pushing me to agree to let them go to the playground without me. I know they are safe and I know nothing happened this time. But Derek, it could of. Something really bad could have happened to those two perfect little girls and it would have been my fault!" She hysterically cried.

"But baby, it didn't happen. Everyone is fine. It's okay." Derek reasoned. Penelope abruptly pulled herself away from Derek and stood.

"It's only _fine_, Derek, because Lilly and Grace were lucky! I did nothing to help them and neither did you. We are the people who are supposed to protect them and we didn't do our job. Dammit! Don't you get it? You screwed up today but pushing me to let them go and I really screwed up by listening to you!" When Derek made a move to comfort her again, she pushed his hands away. "Don't touch me. I need to think Derek. Alone!" Penelope said with a straight face and she turned abruptly and walked down the road towards the over look leaving a stunned Derek watching her go.


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks to everyone who has alerted and reviewed. Hope you enjoy it! **

Chapter 8:

**2:30pm:**

Derek watched Penelope walk off in the direction of the scenic overlook and he decided not to follow her. Penelope clearly needed a few minutes of alone time to sort out some thoughts in her head and he turned and walked the opposite way towards the campground. Arriving back at the campground, he spotted JJ, April and Emily sitting at the picnic table sipping margaritas as the kids happily played nearby with their sidewalk chalk. When JJ spotted Derek walking back towards them looking slightly defeated, she knew things didn't go as planned when the couple had walked away 20 minutes earlier.

"Derek? What happened?" JJ questioned immediately and gestured to the chair nearby. Once Derek sat in the vacant seat, the women pounced on him for an explanation. Derek just shook his head; he honestly didn't know what to make of Penelope's emotional outburst.

"What did she say?" April asked. She figured if they could get the basic details out of him, eventually they could work on getting everyone's emotional input later.

"She said she needed some time to think. She was mad at me for pushing her to agree to let the kids go without us to the playground. She was scared that something could have happened to the girls and we did nothing to prevent it." Derek summarized as he took a long drink of the beer that Emily had quickly passed into his hands.

"That doesn't sound like Pen." April said, slightly confused at the change in her normally happy and forgiving friend.

"That doesn't sound like the non-mom version of Pen." Emily pointed out.

JJ nodded her agreement and then said, "Now that Pen feels completely responsible for children and she is their mom, she's got to be feeling very overwhelmed and in general, it's just a lot to process."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Derek wondered.

"Look, Derek. She loves you. She just needs a minute to gather her thoughts and familiarize her emotions with all of these changes and she will settle again. Being a mom is filled with all sorts of new worries and I think, emotionally, Penelope just needs a little while to settle again." Emily comforted her friend and then gestured to the kids. "You wanna bring them to the pool?"

"Yeah. I think they would like that." Derek smiled at the thought of bringing the exuberant group to the pool. After Dave and JJ agreed to stay at the campground with Olivia, the rest of the adults, sans Penelope, headed to the pool.

Once everyone had headed off, JJ stood from her seat at the picnic table and began walking away.

"Jen?" Dave called behind her.

"Sorry babe. Can you watch Olivia for a little while? I'm going to find Pen."

"On your way back, can you stop by the store and pick up some chicken and spaghetti?" Dave asked with a smile.

"You want me to make my alfredo chicken tonight?" JJ shook her head lightly. "Only you would crave alfredo chicken in the middle of a campground."

"I love you." Dave reminded her as he turned and headed into the RV to check on the baby.

"I love you too." she called and chuckled as she headed off to find her friend.

**4:15pm:**

Penelope looked up from changing Olivia's diaper as the group returned from the pool. Happily chattering about the fun they had, the kids ran to Uncle Dave and Aunt JJ with stories about the pool. Penelope and Derek only had eyes for each other. Derek didn't really know how Pen was feeling and was letting her make the first move. Penelope knew that she had hurt Derek's feelings and she had been the one to make a mess of things. Therefore; she had to be the one to fix it. Penelope went straight over to Derek and immediately threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself close. His arms went around her immediately and he kissed her forehead gently.  
"I'm so sorry." She mumbled into his shirt.

"It's okay momma. We're fine." Derek quickly forgave her but Penelope wasn't finished.

"No. Hot stuff, I was wrong. I should have come to you and talked it out and instead I just shut down and didn't tell you how I was feeling. I didn't even know _how_ to put it into words, Derek. I was just so confused." She said as she was still tightly pressed against his chest.

"Baby girl, look at me. We are fine. I promise. If you couldn't even verbalize how you were feeling, how can I expect you to explain it to me?" Derek reasoned gently and pulled her away from his chest and fiercely kissed her. "I love you baby. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too Derek." She whispered back as their lips met again.

**5:48pm:**

"Everything good?" Emily asked under her breath as she and Penelope worked on putting out all of the food that JJ and April had been cooking for the past hour or so.

"He really loves me Em." Penelope wistfully replied.

"Of course he does PG. How could he not? You guys are made for each other and once we all get back home, things will fall right back into place." Emily assured her and then pulled her friend in for a hug.

"Thanks Em. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. You've been amazing with all of the packing and the lists; I think I would still be working on finding a moving company right now." Penelope smiled gratefully at one of her best friends.

"I just have to show up Derek in any way that I can." Emily replied and they both laughed.

**8:30pm:**

Jack and Noah were talking quietly to each other from the loft bed they were sharing. Ethan, Grace, Lilly and Henry were all sleeping on the queen bed in the back of the RV. Emily and Hotch climbed into one of the two remaining beds and Em sighed contentedly when her fiancé lifted his arm and pulled her towards his chest. She rested comfortably against him and he kissed her hair.

"We had a good day today." She whispered.

"It was a great day. You are so good with all of the kids." He said and then ran his hand under the blanket to lie across her abdomen. "Maybe we should think about adding one to our family?"

"I'm glad you feel that way." Emily smiled and turned to look at him. "I've been trying to find the best way and time to tell you." She hesitated and then rushed out, the rest of her statement. "My doctor called a half hour before Derek called and then we've been so busy with everything. Are you happy?" Emily asked worriedly when Aaron had yet to say anything.

"Am I happy? I'm ecstatic!" He practically shouted and when a couple of the children stirred in their sleep and Noah mumbled something in his sleep, Emily chuckled and shushed him. "How far along are you?"

"8 weeks, well, technically I'm almost 9. I have my first ultrasound on Tuesday at 10."

"Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Do you need anything?" Aaron listed off his list of questions in a rapid manner.

"I'm fine babe. I promise. I haven't felt sick and I actually, really haven't had any symptoms at all. That's why I waited so long to even go to the doctor. I figured there was no way I was pregnant, I finally went when I was two months late."

"When did you go to the doctor?" Aaron asked as he thought about her schedule last week. "I don't remember you mentioning you had an appointment."

"I went during my lunch break last Thursday and then the test took a couple days to come back and she called me early Saturday morning and then Derek called, and then here we are."

"Why didn't you tell me you were going?"

"I didn't see it necessary to worry you over nothing. I went to get some blood work done to check my hormone levels as a precaution. I've missed my period for months at a time before, it's really nothing unusual. I was stunned when she told me. And then Jack's adoption was being finalized on top of everything else, I really didn't want to overshadow that. I don't know, it was just difficult to find the right time to tell you. Are you mad?" Emily asked.

"There is no way that I could be mad at you. Ever. I love you Emily Elizabeth Prentiss-soon-to-be-Hotcher."

Emily smiled at him and pulled his face towards hers. "I love you too."

**6:21am DAY TWO:**

Dave's heart warmed when JJ reached over the middle console and twined her fingers with his. She leaned her head back into her seat and looked over at him.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too, Tesoro." Dave smiled at her quickly before turning to watch the road again. "How are you feeling?" he asked a few minutes later.

"I'm good. I actually had a very vivid dream of waffles last night. They were cinnamon and chewy and oh, so delicious."

Dave smiled at his wife. "So you will be ordering cinnamon waffles when we stop for breakfast?"

"Definitely." She laughed and then was quiet a minute before continuing. "I'm really fat, aren't I?" she asked. Thinking that she hadn't been able to see her feet in two months and everything was swollen. Everywhere.

David Rossi was a fairly intelligent man. The question that his wife had just asked him really didn't have a right answer. He settled for skirting an answer. "Cara mia, listen to me. Every day I see your body growing, it means our girls are getting bigger and stronger and you're the one that is allowing them to do that. I love you more and more everyday and I think you are beautiful."

When Dave had finished his explanation, there were tears in JJ's eyes. "I love you too." Her tone wavered and she took a few deep breaths in an effort not to bawl. Dave, who was well accustomed to his wife's over emotional state, calmly rubbed her thigh and drove down the road.

**6:18am DAY TWO:**

As Derek drove the second RV behind Hotch, he kept sneaking glances in the rearview mirror at his Baby Girl. She was playing with the kids. Taking one of the empty boxes from the campground and cutting a hole in it; Penelope Garcia had made a puppet theatre. Noah and Jack were her helpers and had colored the box and all of the kids had made their own sock puppet with markers and a white sock. Spencer had been sitting in the passenger seat with Derek. His original intention had been to get some advice from Morgan. However; it seemed that unless Derek would have Penelope close, he wasn't going to be able to focus on much of anything else. Spencer rose from his seat with an exasperated sigh and went to the back of the RV to see if he could convince April to switch with Pen.

Pen appeared behind Derek and snaked her arms around his neck. "Looking for me, stud?" she playfully whispered in his ear and then took a seat next to her husband.

"I'm always lookin for you momma." He answered back with a smile and he reached for her hand. Penelope quickly laced her fingers with his and checked his face for signs of distress. After seeing none, she leaned her head back into the seat and happily watched him. "Baby girl. How do you expect me to concentrate on the road when I _feel_ your eyes on me?"

"I don't know Handsome. You're the studly profiler, why don't you tell me?" She flirted and then laughed.

Penelope's laugh was music to Derek's ears and he pulled their hands to his mouth and kissed her hand. "I love you sexy girl."

"I love you too stud muffin."

**1:40pm DAY TWO:**

"Dad! Look! Did you see that? Mom! The monkey! He just swung and landed on that other monkey's back!" Jack yelled at Emily and Hotch excitedly before turning back to watch the monkeys intently.

"He called me mom." Emily said softly. Aaron wordlessly laced his fingers with hers and lifted her chin to kiss her softly.

"You are his mom. And soon you will be my wife and then we will be parents again." Aaron said in between kissing her repeatedly.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He answered back before turning around and leading their group down the path toward Bear Mountain. Dave took the wagon from Fran with a shake of his head when she began to protest. Ethan calmly watched everyone from his seat in the rented Elephant wagon as his brother and Jack walked behind him. April and Spencer walked behind the crowd, hand in hand talking amongst themselves quietly.

"Aunt Emmly?" Lilly asked as she skipped up to Emily and grabbed her hand.

"Yes, sweetie." Emily answered without hesitation.

"Where's everybody else?"

"Mom and Dad took the baby, Grace and Henry with Aunt JJ for a train ride. Remember?"

"I 'member now." Lilly said and nodded her head. "But I said I didn't want to go with mommy Pen and daddy Derek 'cause I wanted to stay with you. 'Cause I love you, Aunt Emmly, you are fun."

"Thanks sweetie. I love you too." Emily picked up the little girl unexpectedly and tickled her. Lilly's laugh filled the air around them as the group came to a stop in front of the giant bear exhibit.

**2:43pm DAY TWO:**

Spencer Reid was in trouble. He had nonchalantly agreed to watch Olivia for a few minutes so Penelope and Derek could take the older kids on a train ride. When everyone else had left, Olivia was sleeping peacefully in her carrier. Now however; Olivia was crying and nothing Spencer tried was soothing her. He had paced, talked calmly to her, checked her diaper, tried to feed her and nothing was working. Out of desperation, he had tried calling Pen's phone but he realized with a sigh that his battery was dead. He strapped her into her seat and began to walk. The steady motion stopped her from crying and Spencer realized with excitement that he had solved the problem. Too bad he forgot that he told the others he would meet them by the exhibit and instead, took off in the entire opposite direction.

**3:10pm DAY TWO:**

"Where is he Derek?" Pen questioned as she nervously looked for Spencer.

"I don't know baby girl. I already tried his phone and it went straight to voicemail." Derek said and scanned the crowd for the boy genius.

"You don't think?" Pen asked fearfully as she valiantly fought the tears from starting.

"Spencer wouldn't let anything happen to Olivia. I would bet my life on it momma. I bet he just took her for a walk or something." Derek pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead as he held her.

"Promise?" She whispered. She sounded so afraid that Derek's heart broke in pieces.

"I swear it Baby." Derek said and lifted her chin until her eyes made contact with his. "Don't let your thoughts go there. Okay? Stay right here with me. We have 4 other kids to watch and Spencer has Olivia. I know it."

"Okay Derek." Penelope shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Spencer has Olivia. Spencer has Olivia."

"That's right momma. And what are we doing when we get to the hotel tonight?" Derek framed her face with his hands and kissed her with 6 years of lust. Penelope molded her body to his and kissed him back with everything she had. A few minutes and quite a few clearing of throats later, Pen and Derek separated and they both needed a minute to gain their bearings.

"I love you Handsome." Penelope kissed Derek lightly on the mouth and turned to find everybody else.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Derek asked as he tugged her on her arm pulling Penelope back into his embrace. "I don't believe you are done kissing your husband." Derek quickly silenced Penelope's laughs with his intense kiss. After a few minutes spent getting lost in the feel of the other's lips and bodies pressed together, the sound of children playing and people talking reminded the couple they were at the zoo and not in private. With a groan on both of their parts, they regretfully separated. "Tonight." Derek murmured before pulling Penelope back in for another kiss. The shiver that ran through Penelope's body had nothing to do with the 90 degree sunny weather of Denver.

**4:45pm DAY TWO:**

As they pulled off the highway, Penelope called her kids over. "Okay, guys. If you want to go to the museum, you have to promise to be really good listeners for Aunt Emily and Uncle Aaron and Aunt April and Uncle Spencer. I want you to go and have fun and being really good listeners. Lilly, who do you have to ask before you leave?" Pen questioned, flashing back to their fiasco at the campground.

"Aunt Emmly, Uncle Aaron, Aunt April or Uncle Spencer." Lilly recited.

"That's right. Okay, so who's going to be a great listener?" Pen asked with enthusiasm. After getting a chorus of "I am!" and "Me!" Pen smiled and then turned her attention to Hotch. "Derek left money in the purple backpack for pizza. There is a Domino's right by the museum, if you pick it up on the way home, Derek and I will take over for dinner and then you guys can have a chance to shower and everything."

"Don't worry about anything, Penelope. Just enjoy yourself." He said knowingly. Pen blushed a little at what her boss was insinuating and went to find her bag as the RV came to a stop in the hotel parking lot. Dave and JJ exited the first RV and went into the lobby and Derek grabbed Pen's bag from her and lead her out of the RV after kissing the kids goodbye.

"Thanks for taking them guys!" Penelope called as Fran exited the RV behind her. Emily waved as April and Spencer piled into their RV after parking the first one and they were off.

"Penelope." Fran started. Pen stopped walking and looked at her mother in law. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm really happy to have you as my daughter. You're good for my son and you make a wonderful addition to our family."

"Awww. Fran, that means so much to me. Thank you." Penelope gushed. The two women embraced and there were quite a few tears shed before they separated and went into the lobby to catch up with the others.

**8:01pm DAY TWO:**

"Can I have two pieces? I need strong muscles for basketball." Noah said as he looked expectantly at Derek.

"Yeah bud. You can have two. Just finish your carrots too." Derek bargained as he handed over the second piece of cheese pizza. Pen and Derek had set the kids up to eat in the corner of the room with juice boxes and paper plates.

"Daddy?" Grace asked.

"Yeah sweetie?" he answered as he knelt down in front of the pizza covered little girl.

"I wub you."

"I love you too baby." He kissed her softly on the head and when he stood up, he met Pen's eyes across the room. Derek instantly recalled the passion that woman had shown and it made him hot all over again. Four large strides and he was right in front of her, his lips trailing a path from her lips to her ear lobe and back. He nuzzled her neck and inhaled her scent and then groaned. "God, woman. You're going to kill me." He whispered and then grasped her hips and pulled her to him so she could feel what her presence was doing to him.

"I don't think anyone has ever died from _that_ Handsome." Penelope retorted, her eyes twinkling as she teased him. Then she pulled him in for a passionate kiss that left her toes curled. "Derek. We have to stop. The kids are in the room." She whispered to him as he embraced her tightly and kissed her on the neck. He groaned a little but loosened his hold on her and stepped back, just as Dave and JJ knocked on the door.

"Momma!" Henry yelled and raced across the room to wrap his arms around JJ's legs.

"Hey baby." She said as she ran her hand over his blond hair.

"Hey, little man. How about we let momma sit and eat some pizza and we can hear all about the museum?"

"Okay Daddy. There was a shark's mouth and these BIG bubbles and some water games. They was a LOT of fun!" Henry began to rattle off after taking Dave's hand and tugging him into the room. JJ smiled at Pen and followed her husband and son into the room.

**10:15pm DAY TWO:**

After some debate, they had rented three hotel rooms. JJ and Dave were in one with Henry and Ethan sleeping in the other queen bed. Aaron and Emily had Jack and Noah in their room and Derek and Penelope had Olivia in her playpen and Olivia and Grace in the other bed. Penelope sighed contentedly as she laid her head against Derek's hard chest.

"What's wrong?" Derek whispered.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything is so right." Pen whispered back as she leaned her head up in the darkness to kiss him. Amazingly, even though he couldn't see her; Derek knew she was trying to kiss him and wordlessly, his lips met hers and she settled her head back onto his chest to sleep. "I love you, D."

"I love you too Princess."


	9. Chapter 9

****

AUTHORS NOTE: I didn't get that many reviews as I normally do for my last chapter that I posted :-) Are you guys still reading and enjoying the story? I'm working on chapter 10 already and it should be up by next weekend :-) Have a good day!

4:23am DAY THREE:

"Daddy?" called a little voice. Then a little hand patted his face. "Daddy?" Lilly called again.

"Ughh." Came Derek's reply.

"Daddy, please wake up." Lilly pleaded as she impatiently tugged at the blanket.

"Okay." Derek rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. The hotel room was in complete darkness except for a little sliver of light coming in from a street light outside the window. He could barely make out the outline of Lilly standing beside him in her Tinkerbell nightgown. "Lilly, what's wrong sweetheart?" he asked as he saw her clutching her stuffed frog, Bernie by the leg.

"I can't find Mommy-Pen. She isn't sleeping anymore." Lilly's lip trembled slightly and she clutched her frog tightly to her chest.

Derek turned quickly to where Pen had been sleeping and felt the sheets where she had been lying next to him. They were cold. "It looks like we are going to have to go find her. Are you up for a little adventure, Ladybug?" Derek asked her as he swiftly swung his legs over the side of the bed and swept the little girl into his arms.

"Yup." Lilly nodded enthusiastically. Derek grabbed a room key, slipped shoes on himself and Lilly and went in search of his wife. He found her around the corner, rocking Olivia in the silent Arizona night air. She looked up abruptly when she heard footsteps. Upon seeing Penelope, Lilly wiggled to be let down and then ran the rest of the way.

"Mommy!" Lilly shouted and when Penelope calmly shushed her, she continued in a lower voice. "I woked up from sleeping and you weren't in your bed. Why are you out here with Livia?" Lilly's big green eyes were still a little heavy with sleep and her normally straight brown hair looked as if she had been caught in a wind storm. Penelope's heart warmed at the sight.

"Mommy came out here to rock Olivia back to sleep. I didn't want to wake up anybody else." Penelope explained as the little girl curled up into Pen's other arm on the bench and started to fall asleep again.

"You could have woken me up Baby Girl." Derek said as he stood behind her on the bench and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"I've got it Handsome. You need sleep and we both know that I'm fine with a few hours here and there." Penelope reasoned as she ran a hand over the now sleeping, Tinkerbell-wearing, 3 year old's head. "Now that both girls are sleeping, we can go back to bed. Can you carry Lilly?" Penelope asked as Derek was already coming around the bench to pick up the little girl.

"I've got her Baby Girl. Lead the way." Derek whispered as he lifted a sleepy Lilly into his arms and followed his wife and infant daughter back to their hotel room.

**8:14am DAY THREE:**

"Momma!" Henry Rossi called from the bathtub. JJ rose from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to the bathroom. Her son was happily playing with his friend Ethan while her husband sat on the floor right beside them and kept a watchful eye over both boys. When he saw his mom in the doorway, Henry's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "Momma! See this really cool boat that Uncle Aaron buyed for me?"

"Bought. Uncle Aaron bought you a boat?" JJ corrected gently and moved into the room to see the toy her son was so excited about.

"Yeah. He went to the store with Aunt Emmly this morning and got us all a toy. Mine is a boat and Ethan got a giraffe. Isn't it cool?" Henry rambled.

"Yeah buddy. It's super cool!" JJ said with enthusiasm and smiled when her husband ran his hand up her leg. "Are you boys almost ready to get out? We have to eat breakfast at the diner and get a move on." JJ continued and sat on the toilet to face her husband. When Dave moved to kneel in front of her and he grasped her small hands in his large ones, her blue eyes locked onto his dark orbs and for a moment, JJ forgot to breathe. The pure love and adoration Dave had for her was clearly evident in his eyes and JJ shook her head lightly as if she couldn't believe he really loved her that much. JJ's vision became blurry and Dave quickly grew concerned.

"What's wrong Cara?" he asked as he brushed away the tears off her cheeks.

"I just _really_ love you, David." JJ said pulling his face close to kiss him fiercely.

"I love you too, Jennifer." He whispered in between kisses. Eventually the sound of splashing and giggling pulled them out of their own little world and back into reality. Once the boys were clean, JJ helped them each brush their teeth before getting dressed for the day.

"Hey, Jen?" Dave called out.

"Yeah?" She answered back as she stepped into the room.

"Do you know where Ethan's other sock is? I emptied his whole backpack and I only found one sock." Dave gestured to the pile of toys, shirts, shorts and sandals on their bed.

"That's okay. Just give him a pair of Henry's to wear. They should fit." Jen reasoned and then went back to getting ready. Dave chuckled to himself; of course his wife would solve his problem quickly and with ease.

**8:17am DAY THREE:**

Derek came up behind Penelope and put his hands on her hips and pulled her close against his chest. She turned her head slightly and hummed in contentment when Derek's lips met hers. She turned in his embrace to face him and ran her hands eagerly across the bare, flat plane of his chest. She chuckled into his mouth when he groaned with pleasure of the feel of her hands running lazy patterns over his chest.

"Baby girl." Derek cautioned when her fingers dipped below the waist of his jeans.

"Stud muffin" she retorted quickly and growled a little when Derek steadfastly refused to allow her tongue entrance into his mouth. "Derek, please." She whispered.

Derek's resolve wavered. The want in her voice was almost enough all by itself to snap his will power in half and it would of if not for the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. "Baby girl, everybody is waiting for us outside. We've got to go."

"Derek, but I _need_ you." Penelope said heavy with meaning. Pen had prepared more reasons about why they should christen their hotel bed one last time before checking out of the hotel but she found she didn't have a need for them. Derek was all at once overloading all of her senses. His hands were everywhere and the feel his hard, sculpted body pressed tight against hers pushed Penelope all the way into the realm of bliss.

**12:35pm DAY THREE:**

"Daddy?" Grace asked from her car seat. Derek crouched in front of her and the curious little girl continued. "Juice? Pweease?"

Derek beamed at his daughter and retrieved the runaway sippy cup from the floor. Grace eagerly took the cup from him and began drinking.

"Good manners, Grace. You're a big girl huh?" Derek asked as he held his hand out for a high five.

"I is a big girl." Grace concluded with a serious nod of her little head and went back to her juice cup.

Derek smiled again and when he lifted his head, he felt Penelope's eyes on him. He turned and met her gaze with his own. She nodded towards the bed in the back of the RV and he quickly followed her lead. Derek sat with his back against the headboard and Penelope's head rested comfortably against his chest.

"How you doin momma?" Derek questioned as he rubbed the back of her neck in a rhythmic pattern.

"I think I might fall asleep right here if you keep that up, Handsome." Penelope said in bliss as Derek systematically worked out the kinks for her.

"That wouldn't be a bad thing baby." Derek said softly and was quiet for minute before continuing softly. "How are you?"

"I'm good Derek. I promise. I'm sorry that I freaked out on you at the campground." Penelope shifted in his arms to look at him in the face. "I should have trusted in you and I was grasping to keep a hold on control that was never mine to have."

"Didn't we already sort this out, hard head?" Derek asked playfully and grew serious when Penelope's eyes started to get misty. "Baby girl, don't cry. I told you, we're good. I promise baby." He assured her and pulled her close.

"I should have trusted you Derek." Penelope whispered into his neck.

"You did trust me, P. You trusted me enough to marry me and adopt 5 kids with me. I'd say that we have the trust covered. Okay, Baby girl?" Derek put his hand under her chin and when Penelope wouldn't meet his gaze, he framed her face with his hands and waited her out. When she finally let her eyes lock onto his, she had stopped crying and Derek took possession of her mouth in his practiced manner. When they separated and settled down to sleep again, Derek bent his head, kissed her lightly on the lips and whispered "I love you Penelope Morgan."

"Love you too, hot stuff," She mumbled sleepily as she let her body relax as she fell asleep in the arms of her chocolate god of thunder.

**4:52pm DAY THREE:**

When they had arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the men had wanted to go check out the local baseball field and had offered to keep the kids with them. Lilly and Grace wanted to go with the "big girls" and Penelope had quickly said that the girls could absolutely come with them for some shopping and girly activities. After some window shopping and a quick lunch, they had spotted the salon on the corner and had excitedly went inside. With the exception of Penelope and her girls, everyone had decided to get a trim and style. Penelope had wanted to "spice up" her current red locks and had opted to get some highlights and a cut. When Lilly saw her mom getting a new color in her hair, she had excitedly asked if she could get them as well. When Penelope was considering it, she asked Lilly what color she wanted. Lilly had promptly responded with "PINK! So I can be like a princess all the time! And Grace can too!" The whole salon got a little quieter with this comment. Penelope thought about it for a little while. On one hand, Lilly was only 5 and certainly didn't _need_ to get her hair dyed. But then again, Penelope was 32 years old and she didn't _need_ to get her hair dyed either. The salon only used natural based products that guaranteed no damage to the hair and Penelope never wanted to be the kind of mom who restricted what her kids could do based on what other people would think.

"Lilly, if you get this done, you can't wash it out. Your hair will stay pink until it grows out enough and that could be a couple of months." Penelope explained to the patiently waiting child.

"Okay, Mommy-Pen. Like if you cut your hair short, you have to wait for it to grow for it to match again." Lilly nodded at Penelope.

Pen smiled as she recalled the frantic phone call she had received about a year ago. Maggie had called Penelope in a panic. 4 year old Lilly had decided to give herself a makeover and had taken scissors to her beautiful straight brown hair. When the "makeover" was complete, Lilly had large clumps of hair that were much shorter than the rest and some strands were their original length. Lilly was surprisingly, not upset at her hair and was instead very proud of her craftsmanship. Penelope had calmly advised her friend to support her daughter in her creative ways and simply suggest they go to the salon to get the new look "polished". Bringing her thoughts back to the current place and time, Penelope looked her new daughter and said, "Yes."


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHORS ****NOTE: I don't normally do dedications but this chapter is an exception. Chapter 10 is dedicated to carolineFale she suggested "trouble in paradise" and I was completely inspired :-) I am looking for possible suggestions or requests. If you would like to read a scene between two characters or you think an issue would be fun/challenging to write about, please mention it to me in a PM or review. I sincerely appreciate all of you out there who are reading this and I hope you like this chapter even more than you liked that last 9! **

**Thanks! **

******ONCE UPON** A PHONE CALL:

**CHAPTER 10:**

**4:54pm DAY THREE:**

The Albuquerque Isotopes, the minor league team located in downtown Albuquerque were hosting the Omaha Storm Chasers and they were leading in the bottom of the 5th with a score of 7-2. Derek Morgan looked around the happy faces of his children and couldn't help but smile himself. Aaron caught the large smile as it crossed his friends face and reached above Ethan's head as he nudged Derek in the arm.

"What's up?" Derek questioned as he repositioned a sleeping Olivia in his arms.

"You waited a long time to be this happy. I watched the two of you struggle to get here for years and I really don't want to see anything happen to your relationship. Penelope is good for you and you are good for her." Aaron said knowingly. "Don't screw it up now." He warned and then looked at the group. "I'm going to get a snack with Jack and Noah. Anyone want anything?"

After Aaron had compiled a list of snack food and drinks to get at the concession stand, he followed after Jack and Noah as they raced up the concrete steps. Derek looked around at everyone. Spencer was explaining the history of baseball to a bored looking Dave. Henry and Ethan were eating popcorn and looking around them in wonder. Derek smiled to himself and thought _I am really lucky. Maybe Baby Girl will want to go to dinner and a movie with me tonight. _After settling Olivia in her carrier and pulling the sun shade down to shield the baby from the setting sun, he pulled out his phone and texted JJ to see if she would keep the kids at the hotel so he could take Pen out.

Aaron arrived back with snacks and both boys and when Derek checked his phone and smiled Aaron looked at his friend with his eyebrow raised.

"JJ's going to keep the kids tonight so Pen and I can see a movie and get dinner." Derek volunteered.

"Good for you, Derek. Em and I will help too." Aaron assured his friend as he handed him his soda.

"Thanks man." Derek replied and then after a moment, he said quietly. "I'm afraid of tainting her."

Aaron heard his friend's hushed confession and took a deep breath before starting. "Penelope loves you Derek. I think it would taint her if you walked away more than being with you ever could. You guys balance each other out and it works Derek. You have to see that."

"I know we work Hotch. It's just Pen is like this amazing light. She sees the good in life and the world and I feel like all I see is the bad and the potential dangers in the world. I don't want her to lose her light because she's with me." Derek looked down at his hands in his lap, his tone defeated.

"Penelope is only able to feel that way because she believes in the potential for love and how amazing people _can_ be. She isn't delusional, she knows that there danger exists but for her, it's enough to know that life has the potential to be great. She doesn't have to see it every day. She has faith that life can be amazing so she chooses to encourage others to feel the same way." Aaron paused and took a sip of his drink. "Penelope's love for you makes her as bright as she is. Without you, she would be withdrawn and depressed. Without her, you would be violent and you would take way too many risks in the field because you would have nothing to lose." Aaron concluded.

It finally clicked in Derek's head. Penelope Garcia and Derek Morgan were two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. One without the other would leave them both looking like pale comparisons to the amazing people they were together. "Thanks." Derek said. Aaron nodded to him and the baseball game continued playing on the field as the sun set on the horizon.

**7:02pm DAY THREE:**

Penelope eyed Derek across the hotel room. JJ and April were talking at the little table in the corner while Ethan, Grace, Lilly and Henry all played with Derek on the floor. The kids were building things with Lego pieces and Derek was making up voices for their "monsters". Penelope watched Derek play with the kids and instead of her heart warming at the sight, she was feeling an annoying tugging of her mind. Since arriving back at the hotel, Penelope had showed her hair and Lilly's 2 pink streaks to Derek. He had initially not said anything but then pasted a fake smile on his face and twirled Lilly in the air and suggested they play with Legos. Penelope checked the hotel alarm clock. She had been back for more than an hour and Derek had yet to say a single word to her. The sting of rejection made her eyes water a little and after one last glance in Derek's direction, she turned and walked out of the hotel room.

**7:06pm DAY THREE:**

Emily walked into the connected hotel room. She recognized JJ and April sitting at the table. Derek playing with the kids but she didn't see Penelope.

"Hey Derek, do you know where Pen is? Noah and Jack wanted to run something by her." Emily questioned passively as she scanned her cell phone for new email messages.

"No." Derek answered shortly.

Emily recognized the tone in her friend's voice immediately. Her eyes lifted from her cell phone and she raised an eyebrow in Derek's direction. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?" Emily asked and when Derek didn't immediately agree, she pushed. "Unless you want to talk in here?" she made a big show of getting herself comfortable on the nearby bed, settling in for a long chat. Derek glared in her direction as he moved to stand up but Emily wasn't fazed. Derek Morgan didn't scare her, he was pissed off about something and she was going to get to the bottom of it. No matter what it took.

"So why are you pissed off?" Emily asked bluntly after the door was pulled shut behind them and they started to walk toward the lobby. Derek was quiet for a few seconds before he answered her.

"I'm assuming you saw Lilly's hair?" Derek asked.

"That's what you are pissed about? Seriously? She's three Derek. It's harmless all the dye they use at the salon we went to is plant based and completely natural. It doesn't damage the hair and Penelope made sure Lilly knew what she was doing before she let her get it." Emily reasoned.

"She didn't talk to me before she let her get it." Derek murmured quietly as they sat on a bench outside in the cool New Mexico hair.

Emily picked up on Derek's hurt tone and asked her next question carefully. "Are you mad at her for not asking or are you hurt she didn't ask you?"

Derek took a few minutes to process his answer and Emily patiently waited beside him. "I'm hurt. I don't think she trusts me to make these kinds of decisions with her. It feels like she's in the driver's seat with the kids and I'm just a part time babysitter." Derek wrung his hands together in his lap and ran them over his face.

"That's not true." Emily automatically said.

"It is true." Derek said and when Em went to say something else, Derek interrupted her and continued. "She picks out their breakfast, their clothes, decides when they need to have a bath, she reads the bedtime stories, she's the one who answers when they ask to go somewhere even when the question is directed towards me!" Derek rushed out and then hung his head and took a few deep breaths to calm his rapid pulse.

"You need to talk to her. I recommend not talking to her when you are angry though. If you come at PG like this, she's going to not understand any of it. She's just going to yell back and nothing will be fixed." Emily warned and stood from the bench.

"I have to go find her. I've been ignoring her since she got back from the salon." He confessed.

"Derek! I can't believe you! You better find her and make it right. You know Penelope wouldn't do anything to hurt you and for you to ignore her is really mean." Emily shook her head at her normally sane and friendly friend.

"I know Em. I'm gonna fix it." He vowed quietly and stood from the bench and entered the lobby in search of his wife.

**7:32pm DAY THREE:**

Penelope Garcia-Morgan's vision became blurry again and she furiously swept at the tears as they ran in streams down her cheeks. Another sob rocked her body and she was again thankful for the swimming pool to be void of guests. The room was dimly lit by the underwater lighting of the pool and the water was almost completely still. The only waves in the large pool were the ones created by Penelope's feet swishing back and forth. When Derek's actions had upset her earlier, she had sought out the clean, crisp scent of chlorine and was immensely grateful to find the pool area deserted. She slipped off her sandals near the pool stairs and slipped her feet into the cool water and had been crying quietly and trying to figure out what had happened between her and Derek to change this so drastically from lunch. Penelope ran over lunch in her head again, Derek had been perfectly happy when they had eaten at the diner downtown, he had even suggested they slip away from the crowd for some much needed alone time. Penelope remembered laughing and swatting his arm playfully and the feel of his persuasive kisses to her neck. She shivered lightly at the memory and her pulse increased marginally. Yes, things had been fine at lunch. She next thought about when they had come back to the hotel. He had been shocked at Lilly's hair but had masked it pretty fast and had doted on his daughter since but had steadfastly ignored Penelope. _Is he mad that I let her get her hair dyed? Maybe he thinks I should have asked him? No. That's crazy. It's only hair dye-_ Penelope's thoughts were interrupted by the door to the pool area swinging open. She turned in the direction of the noise and spotted him standing there illuminated by the light in the hall.

"Can we talk?" Derek asked tentatively as he walked into the room and let the door swing shut behind him.

"You tell me Derek. I tried to talk to you twice upstairs and you ignored me." Penelope said a little harshly and quickly swiped the last of her tears off her cheeks when she turned her back to him again.

Derek silently sat next to her and kicked off his shoes. He slipped his feet into the cool water beside her before he spoke. "I'm sorry baby girl. I didn't want to say anything that I would regret later."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Penelope asked.

"I was angry and didn't want to be mean." He explained reasonably.

"So you thought it was better to ignore me and make me cry?" Penelope asked as her voice cracked and her eyes gave way to more tears. "Why Derek? Why were you so goddamn angry that you couldn't even talk to me?"

Derek tried to pull her into his arms but she shrugged him off so Derek tried to explain himself instead. "Baby girl," he began.

"Don't you baby girl me, Derek Morgan!" Penelope's eyes flashed warningly and Derek took a deep breath before trying again.

"Penelope, I'm sorry baby. I shouldn't of ignored you upstairs. I was feeling left out when you brought back Lilly with her hair like that. I felt like you made another decision without me." Derek braced his elbows on his thighs and put his head in his hands.

"You are mad that I let her get her hair dyed? Really?" Penelope asked the disbelief evident in her voice.

"No, yes, well no." Derek shook his head in an attempt to clear the indecision from his thoughts.

"Well, as long as we are all cleared up." Penelope said sarcastically as she shook her head and again swiped at the tears running down her face. "What happened to us, Derek? We were fine this morning. Everything was good, we were good, and the kids were good. What the hell happened?" Penelope wondered.

"We weren't good. You don't give me any decisions to make. You pick out their clothes, their food, make all the decisions. I feel like a part time babysitter and I _want_ to be their _dad._" Derek emphasized and eyed Penelope to see if he had finally managed to convey his point.

"Derek, you are 38 years old. You've spent your entire life doing what you want, what you need. I don't want to give you too much responsibility too fast and then you, you could- Dammit Derek! I don't know what I would do if you changed your mind. I can't afford to have you freak out under the pressure of raising these kids and if it means that I do a little bit of extra decision making in the beginning to ensure that these kids don't lose a second dad, then yes, Derek. I'm going to lie out their clothes, pick out their food, answer all the questions I can, bathe them, tuck them in and read them stories. For the first time since I met you Derek, you aren't the most important thing anymore. I can't let them lose another family, I just can't do it." Penelope openly sobbed now and Derek sat next to her frozen.

"You think I would walk away?" he whispered. When Penelope continued to sob and didn't answer his question, Derek stood, grabbed his shoes and left the pool area. Penelope only sobbed more. She pulled her feet from the pool and slipped her flip flops on. She climbed the stairs back up to her room. Slipping inside silently she was immensely grateful that her room was empty. She quickly selected a new set of clothes and got into the shower. The sound of trickling water almost completely masked the sound of her crying.


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter! I really appreciate it! **

**Chapter 11:**

**9:24am DAY FOUR:**

Penelope slowly opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. Pulling her hair into a quick bun and stretching her back until she heard the successful pop, Penelope scanned the room. Olivia's playpen was empty, no children were present and the spot next to her was still tucked in. It took a few seconds and then she remembered the fight with Derek the night before and tears filled her eyes again. She shook her head and sucked a deep breath in.

_You are a strong woman, Penelope Garcia. Get up out of this bed and go find Derek. Make it right with him and then have awesome make up sex._

With a renewed sense of purpose and hope for the future, a revitalized Penelope Garcia began to get ready for the day.

**9:51am DAY FOUR:**

"Mommy!" Lilly yelled across the breakfast area. Penelope smiled at the sight of her excited three year old racing across the room for a hug. She swept the little girl into her arms and kissed her head.

"Hey, Lilly-Bear! I missed you last night."

"Daddy says we had to let you get some rest."

"When did he say that?"

"Last night when he put our stuff in Aunt Emmly's room."

"Well then where did Aunt Emily sleep?"

"Daddy says a growed up room and a kid room. They had a door that Daddy made us promise to keep open. Oh and Daddy keep Livia in the room with him. He says she's too little, she's a baby."

"Where is everybody else?" Pen asked as she finally put Lilly down and the two began to walk back to where Dave was sitting with Henry.

"Daddy is in a RV talkin to Grandma Fran, Aunt Emmly is sitting with Livia in the other RV, Aunt JJ and Aunt April is getting di-reck-tions." Lilly recited and struggled with the last word.

"Directions." Pen corrected quietly and then said with much more enthusiasm, "Can you sit with Uncle Dave and Henry and eat your breakfast so mommy can go see if anyone needs some help?"

"Yes, mommy. Cuz, I a big girl." Lilly said proudly as she climbed into the chair next to Henry's.

Penelope mouthed her "thanks" to Dave and went outside in search of everybody else.

**10:02am DAY FOUR:**

"Hey Spence?" April called out from the hotel room's bathroom. Spencer grabbed her toothbrush out of the bag on the bed and lightly knocked on the door. April's foamy face appeared as she opened the door wider. He handed her the toothbrush before she could ask for it and she beamed at him. "How did you know?"

"You typically forget your toothbrush in the bag when gathering all of your other bathroom items." He stated matter of factly and he smiled when she scowled at him. "Also, because I love you April Matthews and I think it's adorable when you forget your toothbrush in the bag."

April leaned in and stood on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. "I love you too Spencer Reid." She whispered and laughed when he tried to kiss her again. "Let me rinse my cleanser off and we can pick up where we left off." She promised. Spencer's hands didn't leave her waist as the couple made their way back into the bathroom and then back to the bed to make good use of the hotel room a little while longer.

**10:25am DAY FOUR:**

"Mom, are you sure?" Derek asked for the fourth time.

"Derek Morgan, I should get back to Chicago so I can set everything up for good. By leaving now and getting a head start on things, I should be able to settle in with you in Virginia by early next week." Fran reasoned as the three of them finished packing her bags.

"Fran, I understand why you feel you should go back but isn't there another option? Maybe Des or Sarah could pack up some things for you?" Penelope asked as she looked hopefully at her mother in law.

Fran smiled at the couple. "You guys will be fine. Work together and communicate." She advised and her suspicions were confirmed when both Penelope and Derek began to look guilty. "You two are best friends, build on that and keep doing what has been working for years. Marriage is friendship at its core. _Communicate._ It is perfectly okay to be upset or to disagree with the other person, its normal." She said as she grabbed the last bag off the bed and moved towards the taxi waiting nearby. "Derek, you can't just stop talking to your wife. Things don't get solved that way and you guys will never work through anything if you can't voice your opinion. And Penelope, I know my son and deep within yourself, you know who Derek is too. Let go of that last little bit of fear you have inside and fully embrace this, what you dreamed about for years is here and if you can take that last leap of faith, I _promise_ Derek will catch you." Fran counseled her two children and pulled them in for a group hug when both of them were a little stunned that she knew about their recent issues. "I'm a mom, I know." Fran whispered to both of them, kissed both their cheeks and then climbed in her taxi headed for the airport. Derek and Pen stood there both a little stunned and vulnerable that their innermost issues with the other person were just spoken about and now had to be dealt with.

"Baby Girl" Derek began just as Penelope turned to him and said, "Handsome."

"Go ahead." Penelope encouraged as she settled her face tightly against his chest and sighed when he wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her tightly.

"I promise to talk to you instead of running off. That will never happen again. I was just so hurt that you actually thought I would leave you and the kids. I was looking at it completely from my view and I'm so sorry baby girl."

"_I'm_ so sorry Derek! I didn't want us to fight last night-actually, I never want us to fight. I hate fighting. I was trying to make everything easier and instead I only messed everything up. I'm so sorry Derek and I completely understand if you need to take some time and think about what you want from this relationship. I'm-"Derek interrupted her rant.

"Hey, motor mouth. Slow your roll, woman. I should have brought up my past. All of those years you watched me date other people, I was wrong and hurtful. It wasn't fair to you or them. I was trying to find a replacement for you and I should have known better. There is only one Penelope Garcia and somehow, I've convinced her to be my wife. Baby Girl, _I want this._ I _want_ to wake up at 4am with Olivia and I _want_ to take the kids to the zoo, baseball practice, sleepovers, science projects, I want it all baby. And I want to do it all with you." Derek vowed quietly to Penelope and he reached down to lift her chin when he felt his shirt get wet. "Don't cry princess." He begged as he pulled her face to his and locked his gaze with hers. "This whole situation is completely new to us. We _will _find our balance and everything will eventually settle."

"Promise?" She whispered.

"I promise Penelope." Derek held his baby girl tight in his arms and made a promise to himself right then and there that he would never let this woman go.

**12:32pm DAY FOUR:**

"But, Uncle Dabe! I'm hungry now." Lilly protested loudly.

Dave crouched in front of the impatient 3 year old. "We are stopping for lunch in 5 minutes. Did you find your bag?"

"No, I looked everywhere too." Lilly said sadly.

"Well, when we stop, I will help you look for it. Your Dora bag has to be somewhere." Dave reasoned and Lilly seemed to agree with his logic because she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a large kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks Uncle Dabe. My mommy, my first mommy, gabe me that bag and I don't wanna lose it." Lilly whispered quietly. Dave just hugged the little girl back and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Penelope had spotted the signs of a meltdown from Lilly and was about to intervene when Dave settled down the little girl all by himself. Penelope smiled and turned her attention back to April who was driving.

"According to the GPS, we have 1.2 miles before the exit and the family restaurant is 0.2 miles to the right of the exit." Penelope recited. April nodded and kept her attention on the road.

"So, what's new with you and boy genius?" Pen questioned, using her favorite nickname for Spencer.

"Well, back in San Diego, he asked me to buy a house with him." April said quickly and prepared herself for the onslaught of noise and questions that was to be expected when one dealt with a person as spectacular as Penelope Garcia-Morgan.

"OH MY GOD! My little cupcake is growing up! Did you find a house yet? Where did he ask you? How did it happen?" Penelope rapidly asked.

April smiled at her friend. "He asked me at Maggie's house in the garage when we were moving boxes. He made an appointment with a realtor in Quantico and we haven't found a house yet. We actually haven't even really looked at any yet. Emily left a real estate magazine out for Spencer to read so he could help you sell Maggie's house and he thought I had left it out for him. He thought I was trying to send him a hint but once he realized he had made a mistake, we had a conversation and we're going to look for a house once we get back home." April finished.

"I'm so happy for you!" Pen gushed. "Derek found a house for us to move into maybe he knows of one for you guys in the neighborhood. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

"That would be amazing!" April enthusiastically responded as she guided the RV into the parking lot of the restaurant. Aaron pulled the second RV in behind them and the group eagerly streamed out of the RVs and into the restaurant.

**9:00pm DAY FOUR:**

"Are you sure we should let Henry sleep in the other RV?" Dave worriedly asked his wife as he looked for fresh clothes to sleep in.  
"It's fine, Dave. Henry wanted to sleep with Lilly, Noah and Jack. Pen and Derek are taking turns sleeping in that RV too. I'm sure everything will be fine." JJ reasoned with her husband as she slipped into the bed and watched him pull on his boxers. "Babe, I love that you are worried about Henry but I really need you to talk to your daughters. They've been kicking me all day and they only settle when they hear your voice."

Dave quickly climbed in next to his wife and pulled her into the cradle of his arms. His warm, strong hands overlapped hers on her bump and he hummed all three of his girls to sleep in a matter of minutes. He kissed Jen on the head and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She grumbled a little in her sleep and Dave chuckled before leaning his head back and falling asleep as the constant motion of the RV moving down the highway lulled him into unconsciousness.

**12:15am DAY FIVE:**

"Em, are you sure you don't need anything before I go lie down?" Aaron questioned her as he watched her drive the first RV with complete attention.

"Can you just get me that coffee? It's in my bag and I forgot to grab it before we left."

"Is it one of those Starbucks ones? The glass bottle?"

"Yup. It's in my carry on bag. The brown one."

Aaron nodded and once he found it, he headed back towards the front cabin. He bent his head, kissed her quickly on the cheek and mumbled, "Love you."

"I love you too." Emily said with a smile. "Go get some sleep, Mr. Hotchner. I will be waking you up for your turn soon enough."

"Ughh. Don't remind me." Aaron mumbled and shuffled down the aisle before falling onto the couch behind where Emily was driving. April and Spencer were already sleeping on the bed that unfolded from the dinette. The back bedroom was being used by Dave and JJ and Emily smiled at the sounds of her family sleeping around her as she drove at a steady speed down the darkened highway.

**12:16am DAY FIVE:**

Penelope Garcia-Morgan was wide awake as she drove her RV behind Emily's. Her cell phone lit up and vibrated from the cup holder. She went to reach for it before remembering that her hand was grasped firmly in Derek's. When they had started their 10 hour journey to Branson, Missouri, Derek had insisted he would sit up front with Penelope. After settling the kids in the four beds of the RV, he had steadfastly refused to fall asleep. Pen and Derek had spent the first 3 hours of the drive talking. They talked about schools for the kids, house plans, what furniture to keep from each apartment and the pair had playfully argued about when the house would be completely finished. (Derek was optimistic and thought by the end of the week, Pen was realistic and thought by the end of three weeks.) Penelope had given up trying to convince Derek to go find a place to lie down and had simply planned to wait him out. Sure enough, after a lot of talking, Derek's eyes began to get droopy and he slouched into his seat. Soon enough, a faint snore was coming from her chocolate god of thunder and Penelope's heart beat a little faster at the sound. _He's really all mine. He loves me just as much as I love him. We're going to be okay. _ Penelope's phone lit up again and she was pulled from her thoughts. She gently unraveled her fingers from Derek's and he grumbled a little in sleep before settling again. Pen quickly put in her Bluetooth and answered the call.

"Hello."

"Hi Pen. How's everybody in your van?" Emily's voice asked.

"Sleeping, has everyone in your van also given in to the pull of dreamland?"

"Yup. Aaron fought it for a while but I told him he didn't have a choice. I know how he is in the morning if he hasn't had enough sleep. Jack is going to want to play with him at the hotel and my son deserves a happy father not a sleep deprived one."

"So the paperwork finally went through?"

"How did you-never mind. Yeah, it was finalized while we were all in San Diego actually, the same day your adoptions of the kids went through. Aaron and I didn't want to overshadow anybody."

"Emily, buttercup, I'm so happy for you! Jack loves you so much; it's absolutely perfect that you are his mom on paper now too!"

"Thanks Pen. Speaking of kids, how are you and Derek doing with the added pressures of parenthood?"

"I used to think Derek and I were perfect for each other and nothing could mess with that. Then we get kids and suddenly, everything is a mess. We are fighting and not talking to each other. I'm afraid Em." Penelope quietly confessed to her friend.

"When Aaron and I started seriously dating, Jack kept trying to play us against one another. Like; Aaron would say he couldn't have a snack before dinner and he would come find me and ask me for a snack when I had no idea that Aaron said no or that dinner was almost finished. Aaron got mad at me for undermining his parenting and I got mad because he was accusing me of something I never intended to do. This opened up the door for even bigger issues and a couple of times; I really thought it was the end of our relationship. And as much as I loved Aaron in that moment, I loved Jack a little bit more. Parenting is really hard, Pen. It makes you act irrationally and doing with someone you love makes it very complicated. The most important thing is that you love Derek and he loves you. And together; you both love those kids even more than you love each other. It isn't a bad thing, its normal PG. Things will settle, I promise. And, of course if Derek is a jerk, I will just kick his ass for you."

Penelope's mix of tears and laughter filled the line for a few minutes as the pair of RVs made their way into the state of Missouri.

**8:15am DAY FIVE:**

"Daddy, where Momma?" Ethan asked with a quivering lip.

"What's wrong little man?" Derek asked as he picked up the upset little boy.

"I jus wan momma." Ethan repeated.

"But Ethan, mommy had a very long night and-" Derek began to explain but his eyes caught movement towards the back of the RV.

"Ethan, baby. What's wrong?" asked Pen as she finished pulling her hair up into a clip and she walked out of the bedroom to see what was the matter.

"Mommy!" Ethan yelled and wiggled out of Derek's arms and Pen caught him as he leapt through the air.

"Sweetheart. What is wrong?" Pen asked again as she made soothing noises and attempted to calm the little boy.

"I had a dweam and you was taken to heaven like my first mommy and I no have anymore mommies." Ethan explained as he wiped the tears off his face.

"Oh, buddy." Pen said as she rocked him a little more. She wiped his nose and the tears off his cheeks before sitting him down on the couch and kneeling in front of him. "Ethan William Hoffman Garcia-Morgan, I promise you that I'm not going anywhere buddy. I'm going to be extra careful so I can stay with you for a very long time and I can watch you grow up to be a big strong boy. Okay?" She asked and when Ethan nodded, she continued. "Did daddy tell you about the hotel?"

"No."

"Okay, well, I can tell you but it's a secret. Are you sure you won't tell anybody?"

"I promise mommy."

"Alright, buddy, our hotel has a water park inside it! With slides and pools and toys. It's going to be so much fun!" Pen whispered.

"Really?" he whispered back.

"Really." Pen reaffirmed.

"Okay mommy. I promise, I won't tell anybody!" Ethan held out his hand for a fist bump and when Penelope looked at him like she wasn't sure what to do, he explained. "Daddy says it's how friends say deal." Penelope smiled and brought her fisted hand gently to her son's. He scooted off the seat and went back to the table where the other kids were coloring.

"What was wrong?" Derek whispered to her as they sat next to each other on the couch.

"Bad dream." Pen whispered back as she settled her head on Derek's shoulder and he ran his fingers through her hair.

"You know, I never got to say how much I love your new hair."

"We kind of got side tracked, huh?" Pen looked up into his eyes. "I talked to Em last night and I guess it's normal for couples to argue like this but I hate it D. I just want to feel like us again."

"We will baby girl. I promise, we'll get ourselves there. We're going to communicate and deal with things as they come. There is no breaking up of _this_" Derek gestured with his left hand between his heart and hers. "As long as both of us are completely committed to making it work, we will be good."

"We are good, hot stuff." Penelope leaned up and kissed him gently before running her hand down his chest and turning over so she was almost in his lap. "How about we make good use of the bedroom while the kids are occupied?" She whispered.

"Spence is driving." He calmly reminded her as she kissed him again and bit at his bottom lip. "Penelope." Derek warned, "You're playing with fire here."

"Maybe you should arrest me." She said as she ran a suggestive up his thigh.  
Derek closed his eyes in an attempt to cool his inner temperature and to bring himself under control again. "Baby girl, not on the RV with Spence and the kids."

Pen retreated immediately and sat rigidly next to him. "If you don't want _it_ just say so, Derek." She whispered harshly to him, clearly feeling rejected.

"Woman. If I wanted you anymore, we would be going at it right here, right now in front of everybody." Derek assured her and pulled her reluctant form against his chest again. "You would never forgive yourself if one of the kids or Spence heard us and you know it, Hard Head."

"You're right. I just don't want to wait." She whispered back after a minute of thought.

"Me either baby but we are close to the hotel and I already talked Spence and April into keeping the kids for us tonight, so after dinner, we are good to go."

"You know I love you, right?" She asked as she leaned up to kiss him.

"I love you too Princess." He whispered back against her mouth.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! I'm very sorry that it took me so long to get this to you! Between finals, work and my laptop getting broke, it's been impossible to write! I know this is shorter than normal but my next chapter will probably be the conclusion of this story. I'm thinking about writing a sequel! **

**Once Upon A Phone Call**

**Chapter 12:**

**1:23am DAY SIX:**

Olivia's wail ripped through the quiet of the hotel room and Penelope stirred in her sleep.

"Uhhh. I'm coming baby. Hold on." Penelope murmured as she untangled herself from Derek's sleeping form, got out of bed and hurried to Olivia's portable bassinet. Red faced and fists clenched, Penelope picked up the cranky infant and rocked her back and forth. Derek sat up in bed and rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to make his sleepy mind more alert.

"Go back to sleep stud muffin. Momma's got it." Pen whispered as guided the bottle to the hungry baby's mouth.

"Come on baby girl, you can go back to bed. I'll feed her." Derek offered as he walked over to where she was sitting near the window.

Pen looked up at her bare-chested, boxer-wearing, sexy, rumpled lover. "You look like a tousled chocolate sex god." She flirted with a smile bright on her face.

"And you are a devilish sex god yourself woman. My back has the scratches to prove it." He laughed as he bent down and kissed her thoroughly. Olivia stirred in her arms a little and Pen broke the kiss. Moving the baby to her shoulder to burp, she gestured to the bed.

"Get comfortable, Handsome. She should settle once I get a burp out of her and then I'll join you."

"Promise?" he teased.

Penelope laughed and smiled at her husband. Olivia let out a burp and Penelope rubbed the infants back before settling her in her bassinet again and climbing in bed with Derek.

Feeling the bed shift beside him, Derek opened his eyes and rolled onto his back. Pen settled her head on Derek's chest and Derek ran his hands through her hair.

"Hey D?" Penelope whispered while not lifting her head from his chest.

"Yeah Baby Girl." He whispered back.

"I'm still a little surprised at where we are. We're married, we have a new family to take care of and two weeks ago you were only my sexy and awesome best friend."

"Is there a question in there?" Derek teased before shifting in bed and settling again so he was lying face to face with her. "You and me, here in each other's arms, with these great kids feels like a dream come true baby girl. You are the embodiment of everything that is good in this world. When I start to question why we do what we do, one 2 minute conversation with you and I remember. We fight to keep the evil away from the good and woman, you are everything to me. I love you with my heart and soul and I if I could go back in time and kick my own ass for not getting with you sooner, I would." Derek squinted in the faint light coming in from the hotel curtain. "Aww baby. Come here." He pulled her closer to his body, sealed his lips to hers and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She returned his kiss eagerly and wrapped her soft, plush body around his dark toned one. Breaking the kiss a few moments later, Penelope shifted in Derek's embrace and traced patterns on his chest as she thought about how to ask the question that had been bugging her.

"Are you going to ask me or are you just going to let your brain overheat?" Derek playfully teased her as he brushed her hair out of her face and tilted her chin up until he could look into her eyes.

"How do you know I have something to ask you?" she whispered.

"Your forehead crinkles and your toes wiggle."

"Derek Morgan! My forehead does not _crinkle_ and what do you mean my toes wiggle? Cupcake, we might have to enroll you in a literature class at the library." She teased and laughed lightly trying to change the subject.

"Look motor mouth, you can't sit still when something is bothering you and I'm sorry Princess but when you worry, your forehead gets these cute little, tiny lines. . ."

"I don't-" Penelope started to argue but Derek interrupted her.

"If you don't want to talk about it, its okay baby." He whispered, knowing that Penelope was trying to change the subject.

"Its not that I don't want to talk to you Derek. I just don't know how to put it into words myself." She confessed quietly after a few seconds of thought.

"The beginning usually works for me." He suggested quietly and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I guess I'm just feeling overwhelmed, I'm all over the place. One minute we are fighting and the next, I'm all over you. I feel I'm stuck on a merry-go-round and I can't get off Derek. I just want to know what is coming. I'm _so_ _tired_, D, I'm tired of not knowing what the right thing to do is, I'm tired of feeling lost and I-I miss my mom so much Derek. I remember her smile and her singing songs with us in the car. I think of doing things with the kids and I remember that she will never be here to see them and it makes me sad. She missed out on so much and _I _missed so much D. She should be here to help me sort everything out. I'm sure she knew all the ins and outs of making lunches and getting kids to school on time and I'm flying blind here and I love your mom, its been 12 years and I haven't missed her this much in such a long time, I forgot how much it hurt. I just miss her." She confessed in a mess of words and tears.

"It's okay Baby Girl, shhh, it's okay." Derek said simply and rubbed her back soothingly as she fell asleep against his chest. Once she was sleeping, he reached up and brushed his tears off his face and fell asleep holding the love of his life.

**6:22 am DAY SIX:**

Penelope Garcia-Morgan was a woman on a mission. Frustrated with her recent yo-yo emotions, Penelope had awoken almost an hour ago with a simple goal in mind. She was going to be much more similar to who she was two weeks ago. Organized, focused, cheerful and okay, so now she was married to her best friend and they together along with their BAU family were taking care of the recently-adopted-suddenly-orphaned-5-children-of-her-best-friend-who-died-suddenly-in-a-car-crash, but that didn't mean she couldn't organized and cheerful again, right? Penelope Morgan was determined to set her life back in order and to feel like herself again and it didn't matter what it took to get it.

Swatting at Derek's arm gently as she passed their bed for the fifth time, he grunted in response.

"Let's go hot stuff. We've got kids to feed, two RVs to pack up and some groceries to get for the ride." She rambled off as she swept their dirty clothes off the floor and stuffed them into the awaiting duffel bag by the bathroom. Olivia gurgled from her travel swing and Penelope unbuckled her and after caressing her head gently she sat on the bed next to Derek and nudged him again. "Come on, Daddy. Olivia wants to say good morning." She said quietly as she smiled at the cooing infant on her lap. Just as she suspected, Derek rolled over and suddenly looked more alert at the mention of the baby.

"Good morning baby girl." Derek mumbled as he sat up in bed and leaned over to kiss her. Breaking away from Penelope, he bent over and kissed Olivia's head. "Hello Princess. Are you being good for mommy?"

"Well, she _is_ awake and alert, which is more than I can say for her daddy." Penelope teased as she wordlessly handed the baby to Derek before scooting off the bed. Derek sleepily watched as Pen disappeared into the bathroom once more.

"Hey Pen?" Derek called out tentatively.

"Yeah Sugar Plum?" She answered as she poked her head out the door.

"are you feeling okay?"

"Freaking fantastic my chocolate husband god." She chirped in reply before wrestling the suitcase up onto the bed so she could pack the last few things she had found in the bathroom. "I'm just really, super excited to get home today. If we get on the road early enough, we should be able to make it home before midnight." When Derek gave her a knowing look she blurted out the rest. "I just want my life back, Handsome. I'm beyond ready to set all of our stuff into the house and get the kids settled. We start work again on Monday which means if we get there by midnight tonight, we only have three days to get everything and everyone settled before you guys could get sent away on a case. I know your mom will be there to help but I really don't think I could manage to be my usual genius self if the house is filled with boxes and you won't be there at the end of the day to help." Pen reached up in surprise when she realized she was crying.

"Come here." Derek motioned for Penelope to join him in the bed and she quickly complied. Olivia had fallen asleep on his chest and Pen snuggled into his other side. "When we get back, we will look into finding someone to come help during the day with the kids. What about your neighbor Becky? She's in high school right?" Derek asked and feeling Penelope nod into his chest, he continued. "I talked to Matt and the house is completely finished, Baby. The work was completed two days ago and the movers put everything in the proper room and I have his word that he didn't break that huge mirror of yours." Derek pulled Pen's chin up to face his.

"What do you mean, my mirror? The movers only had the stuff from California, Derek."

"When they emptied the truck, I asked Matt to have them go over to each of our places and get our furniture. We had already decided what we were keeping from each of our apartments so giving Matt the list was the easy part. I wanted us to be able to start our new life together as a family."

"Derek Morgan. I love you." Pen whispered before kissing him soundly, being careful not to jostle Olivia.


	13. Chapter 13

Once Upon A Phone Call

Chapter 13

Hotch consulted the GPS before declaring, "We should be in Quantico in two and a half hours."

"Are we all sleeping at Pen and Derek's new house until tomorrow? It's going to be pretty late when we get in, it's almost 11 now." Reid reasoned from the driver's seat as he glanced over at Hotch before turning his attention back to the road.

"Yeah, Derek said that all the furniture had been put into the bedrooms so the kids can all bunk with each other and Derek's friend also made sure the two guest rooms upstairs have beds all set up." Hotch absentmindedly recited as he kept his attention on the team's return to active duty paperwork. Reid nodded before remembering that since Hotch wasn't looking at him, his nodding wasn't necessary. He smiled when his eyes caught the reflection of April on the windshield. April had fallen asleep with her head propped up against the window with Ethan sprawled across her lap. Reid's heart warmed at the sight, and it left the young genius to wonder why he suddenly felt terrified and jovial at the same time.

JJ was working on her own stack of paperwork in her seat behind Hotch as Dave was growing more and more frustrated at his wife's desire to finish the paperwork she was filling out.

"Jen, come on. It's late, how about we go sit on that couch over there and we can rest until the kid gets us home?" Dave bargained for the tenth time.

"Sweetie, I have to fax these papers in to Strauss first thing in the morning. I want to be sure that everything goes smoothly once the babies get here and it definitely won't if the team doesn't have a media liaison for a month." JJ reasoned without looking up from her task.

Dave switched tactics and knelt in front of his wife and gently took the papers from her hands. "Would you stop filling out the damn paperwork if I told you that your husband had already submitted the paperwork two weeks ago? Cara, everything is all set. Agent Megan Greene will try her best at filling your shoes as BAU media liaison for four weeks following the birth of the girls and I will be taking four weeks of paternity leave too."

"You are amazing." Jen sighed gratefully as she pulled her husband's face to hers and planted a severe kiss on his lips. "I love you" she whispered when they broke apart.

"I love you too." He instantly whispered back before pulling her close for another kiss.

**Meanwhile, in the other RV:**

Pen sipped from her seventh cup of coffee for the day as she smiled ruefully at her chocolate god of thunder. "Handsome, go lie down somewhere. You had a long day, I'm good." She reassured him for the third time and shook her head when he started to argue. "No arguments, Hot Stuff. I don't want to see your chiseled body until we are much closer to home." Pen took a breath and continued in a softer tone. "I'm really going to need help finding the house-our house, and getting the kids inside and settled is definitely going to be a feat. So I need my husband firing on all engines, okay?"

"Momma, are you sure you are okay? I don't like the idea of you driving up here all by yourself. I've been much more tired on cases before and done just fine. I don't need to sleep."

"Derek, you didn't have children before, trust me, bad guys were like training camp and tonight is going to be like the super bowl." Pen smiled at Derek. "See, I even used a sports metaphor, you have to go get some sleep now."

Derek laughed and leaned over to kiss Pen on the forehead. "I love you Princess."

"Love you too Stud. Get your butt back there so I can watch you walk away." She teased and laughed when he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek before giving in to his fatigue and heading towards the back.

**12:21am 3 miles into the state of Virginia:**

"Clunk, clunk, hiss-SCREECH!" Penelope heard the horrible noise from the engine and suddenly felt the wheel yank to her right.

"Derek! DEREK!" She yelled in frenzy and Derek sat up quickly from the couch. Quickly assessing the situation, he steadily made his way towards the front of the RV. The RV lurched to the right and he felt the ground slipping from under his feet. He eyed the still sleeping forms of Lilly and Grace sleeping in the overhead loft and quickly climbed up and wrapped them in his arms and attempted to shield their bodies as much as possible.

Emily, Noah and Jack had watched the latest Harry Potter movie before falling asleep on the bed in the back of the RV. Emily awoke to the sound of Pen screaming Derek's name. Feeling the RV start to swerve, Em immediately pulled Noah and then Jack to the edge of the bed and proceeded to pull them all the way onto the floor before covering their bodies with hers.

Penelope fought with the steering wheel as much as she could but it yanked fully out of her hands and she felt the RV tipping to the right and tried to prepare herself for the impact.

The RV slid off the highway and towards the thick trees. It lurched once towards the right and then it rolled, two complete turns, before coming to a rest on its side amongst the heavy trees.

**AUTHORS NOTE: **I know this chapter is short compared to what I normally post but I promise that I'm already working on chapter 14! Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Once Upon a Phone Call**

**Chapter 14:**

_Why is the sky covered with flashing red lights? _Pen thought to herself as she slowly opened her eyes. Then she started to remember; the RV veering off the road, her screams for Derek, the trees coming closer and closer to the RV until finally, everything went dark. The RV was lying on its right side and the windshield in front of her was cracked all the way across. Her eyes found the road and she saw the flashing lights of the fire trucks and rescue teams. _Oh, GOD! What if anyone is hurt? My beautiful girls were sleeping right above me, I yelled for Derek, Please God! Let everyone be okay! Noah and Jack are in the back with Em! I'm so sorry that I couldn't hold the wheel, I tried so hard! Please don't take anyone from me! _She silently pleaded and tears fell down her cheeks.

"Derek?" She called quietly, afraid that he wouldn't answer her.

"auuuah" came a muffled sound from the overhead compartment. Soon after she saw movement, as his naked and toned leg slowly came into view, Penelope's heart started to race with excitement. _If he can move his leg, then he's got to be okay, right?_ She reasoned with herself and she tried again.

"Hot Stuff?" She called.

"You okay momma?" came Derek's muffled reply.

"I'm fine. Are you? The girls? What about the boys and Em? Oh, god! Derek, they were sleeping in the back!" Pen quickly exclaimed.

"Momma?" Lilly called out from Derek's arms. "I can't see you!"

"Baby, listen, its okay baby girl. I promise." Pen gently consoled her daughter and made eye contact with the now standing Derek before continuing. "Daddy is going to make sure you and your sister get to safety and the help Aunt Em with the boys. But Mommy needs you to pass a very special message to Aunt JJ okay?" Pen waited until the little girl nodded before continuing. "Tell her that mommy is okay and to she needs to rest." Lilly nodded again and wiped the tears off her face as she prepared herself for her serious message delivering job. Turning his head to the side quickly at the sound of movement, Derek peered into the darkness trying to make out a person.

"Noah? Jack?" Derek called out.

"Uncle Derek? Help!" Jack yelled a little frantically. "My mom pulled us from the bed and lied over us but now she won't wake up!"

"Jack, is Noah with you?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm right here." came a softer reply as the two young boys slowly came into view.

Relief flooded both Pen and Derek at the proof that both boys were okay. Derek assessed the situation. He was going to need some help.

"Jack, Noah. If I boost you two up onto the roof, can you help get Lilly and Grace to your Dad and Uncle Dave?" Both boys nodded their agreement and Derek slowly made his way to the window that was halfway open, put both girls standing by his feet and stretched up to push the window fully open. He boosted both boys onto the roof and heard them yelling for Hotch, Reid and Dave.

"You sit really still with Noah and wait for your sister, okay, Ladybug?" Derek questioned the three year old seriously. He fist bumped her and quickly lifted her onto the roof. He quickly lifted Grace into his arms and when she didn't want to let Derek go, Noah coaxed her gently from their father's arms.

He waved to Hotch and Dave as they jogged down the hill towards him. "Lilly, go with Uncle Dave okay? He will bring you to Aunt JJ and you can pass on your special message."

"Is you coming too Daddy?" Lilly asked with bright eyes.

"Come on sweetheart, I promise everything is alright. Henry misses you." Dave gestured to the little girl as he stretched towards her. "He found Bernie underneath one of the seats." Dave smiled when the little girl's eyes lit up at the mention of her favorite stuffed frog. She slowly scooted towards her Uncle's outstretched hands and Dave quickly walked her up the hill followed closely by Jack. Reid helped Noah get down and quickly followed Dave carrying Grace in his arms.

Hotch maneuvered his way up on to the roof and as he was scooting himself through the window to check on Emily, Derek volunteered what he knew about her condition.

"The boys said she covered them with her body but now she won't wake up. They didn't mention blood so she probably isn't bleeding."

Hotch nodded his thanks and carefully made his way to the back of the RV to check on Emily. He found her lying still on the RV floor with a nasty bump to her head and scrapes over her body from the shattered glass of the windows.

"Em? Come on sweetheart, wake up for me." Hotch coaxed.

At the sound of his voice, Emily started to stir. "Hotch? What? Why are you here? Why am I on the floor? And what the hell happened to my head? I feel like somebody clocked me." Em babbled while slowly coming to terms with her surroundings.

Aaron Hotchner shut his eyes and sent up a silent but meaningful "thanks" to any god that was willing to listen. His woman was going to be fine.

Derek assessed Pen's injuries with a skillful eye.  
"Handsome, can we please just work on getting me out of this chair? I feel like my head is swollen and I'd really like to lie down." Pen asked.

"We have to wait for the firefighters to get the cutters in here. The seatbelt is jammed." Derek patiently explained again before questioning her further. "Are you sure nothing else hurts? Even just a twinge?"

"Come here." She said softly and when he was close enough to her face so she could kiss him she whispered. "I promise, I'm fine. I only bumped my head on the window, I was wearing my seatbelt. Thanks to you and Em, the kids are fine and we are all going to be okay." She promised him and then bent her head slightly to kiss him to further solidify her point.

Penelope Morgan and Derek Morgan were going to be fine.

**AUTHORS NOTE: Hi guys, thanks for all the reviews! I'm taking summer classes and I've been working extra hours so I haven't had a chance to individually reply but I definitely appreciate the feedback! I'm almost positive the next chapter will be set a few months into the future…any requests? Thanks again! **


	15. Chapter 15

Once Upon a Phone Call

Chapter 15:

At the sound of footsteps coming closer to her, Penelope's eyes quickly opened and scanned the room for the intruder. Her mouth turned upward slowly as she recognized the man coming closer to her bed immediately.

"Hey Handsome." She whispered.

"Hey yourself baby girl." He bent to kiss her forehead and when he went to pull away, he chuckled when Pen grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him closer. "See something you like, Princess?" he teased and kissed her soundly without giving her a chance to answer.

"I love everything I see." She whispered with a smile before continuing. "Are you sure the kids are okay? Did you ask the doctors? What about Em? Is she okay?" Penelope rapidly asked.

Derek sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. "Momma, you have to relax. All the kids are fine. The doctor said Em had a mild concussion and they already gave her some painkillers and told her to go home. JJ and Dave took the kids to the cabin for the night and they'll bring them back here in the morning so we can all go see our new house together."

"So everyone is fine?" Pen repeated.

"Yeah, baby girl. Everyone is fine; well you are actually the worst of anyone. Your wrist is sprained and you got a pretty good concussion from the window. It gave you a pretty good bruise too." Derek gently brushed his fingers over her large purple and blue bruise.

"But we're going home tomorrow morning right?"

"Yeah momma. The doctors just wanted to watch you for the night but they've assured me, you will be fine." Derek gently reassured her before climbing in the bed next to her and once her body was settled against his and her head was cradled in his chest, he whispered to her, "There is absolutely nothing you could've done to prevent it baby."

Pen stilled at his words before tears brimmed her eyes. "Rationally, I agree Derek. The mechanic said the steering column went and 5 grown men wouldn't have been strong enough to keep the van on the road but –"she took a shaky breath in as more tears ran down her cheeks. "I feel horrible. What if Em wasn't in the back with the boys or what if you hadn't saved the girls? Oh my god- Derek! What if we lost one of them?" Penelope sobbed into his chest and Derek held her rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Baby Girl, momma. Come on, look at me." He coaxed her chin upward until his eyes were locked onto hers. "We can't sit here and think of the _what ifs_. We will go crazy if we do. The girls are safe, you're safe, the boys are safe and so is Em. If you hadn't managed to slow down the van as much as you did, we could have burst into flames or rolled further down the hill and into the river."

"Oh god Derek! That would have been horrible!" Pen whispered back to him, visions of the RV being swallowed by water and ignited in flames filling her mind.

"But it didn't happen baby. Because of you." Derek gently reminded her as her head settled back into his chest.

After a few moments of silence, Pen gazed up at Derek's face. "How did you know?"

"How did I know, what?"

"That I felt like it was my fault."

"Woman, I know you. Your eyes weren't as bright as usual and you twist your fingers when you're nervous."

"I do n-" Pen started to say before looking down so see her fingers twirling around themselves and just laughed instead. "I love you Derek Morgan." She leaned up and kissed him. She reached up and put a hand on either side of his face. "Thank you for protecting the girls and for protecting me." Penelope whispered; as she remembered Derek's reassuring words as the firefighters had worked on getting her free from the jammed seat belt. "I don't know what I would do without you. You are an amazing husband and a wonderful father." When she leaned forward and kissed her husband again, she wasn't sure if she tasted her tears or Derek's.

**5 weeks later:**

Penelope Garcia-Morgan was stressed out. So stressed out in fact that she found herself roughly straightening her desk at the BAU with such force, she had broken her elastic silly cow. With a sigh, she tossed both pieces in the trash can and twirled in her seat to restart her search for the elusive unsub.

Derek and the team had been in Harrisburg, Texas for the past 14 days. Since the FBI's arrival on the scene, the unsub had managed to kidnap and additional 5 women and 4 new bodies had turned up. It brought the grand total of women missing to 20 and they had only identified 7 bodies. They had no leads, witnesses or forensic evidence to point them in the right direction. The only connection that the team had to work with was all the kidnapped girls and the bodies had brown hair with brown eyes and were between the ages of 15 and 25. Penelope had taken the total number of missing women and had narrowed the search by these parameters and was left with 180 women who were possible victims of the unsub.

"Goddess of all things, speak and be recognized mere mortal." Penelope chirped into the phone as she worked on conducting yet another database search for connections among the victims.

"Hey momma" Derek answered quietly and his tone immediately put Penelope on alert.

"What's wrong stud?" She softly asked.

"This morning three more girls were reported missing and we found another girl. Same M.O. The girl's family was notified and she had a little sister that looks just like Lilly. Baby, I'm really trying to focus and catch this son of a bitch but every time I have to look into a father's eyes and tell them their daughter was murdered by this- this animal. I just don't know Baby Girl." Derek's deep breaths were the only sound over the open line for a few moments then he confessed. "I feel like I'm drowning."

"It's going to be okay D. The girls are at our house having a play date with Henry. I'm sure your mom is baking cookies with them as we speak." Pen consoled and smiled when she heard Derek's light chuckle come over the line. Pen's tone grew more serious when she continued. "Derek William Morgan, you are part of the best profiling team in the country. Momma knows you are a hunky piece of dark chocolate but Momma also knows you are smarter than this monster and you can find this unsub. Go back to the drawing board, look at this case with a fresh perspective and find this damn elusive bastard so you can come home to me and the kids."

"Yes, Baby Girl." Derek immediately replied and then said, "Did I ever tell you how damn sexy you are when you coach me?"

"Get your butt back in Virginia and we can do a totally different kind of coaching, baby boy." Penelope flirted back and hung up the phone quickly leaving Derek laughing as he went back to work.

After hanging up the phone, Penelope gave up on her database search for a little while and called home instead.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Fran. It's just me, I was just calling to see what you guys are up to."

"We just finished baking some cookies-"Fran began to explain before getting interrupted. "Grandma, don't tell mom, it's a surprise!" shouted Lilly in the background.

"Fran, can you put Lilly on the phone please?"

"Sure"

"Hi, mom, we making you a surprise!"

"I'm really glad that you are having fun with grandma, gumdrop. But, I need you to apologize for shouting at grandma when she was talking to me on the phone. Grandma is being nice to you and doing fun things, and that is no way to treat her."

"Okay, mommy. Grandma, I sorry I yell at you. I like when we do fun things."

Lilly unceremoniously handed the phone back to Fran without a goodbye and raced back to the kitchen table to continue frosting the cookies.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Pen. Lilly raced back to work on the project."

"I'm sorry she shouted at you like that, earlier, when she didn't want you to tell me about the surprise. I think she gets wrapped up in what she is doing and forgets about being rude or her volume." Pen apologized.

"It's okay dear. She's 3 and was only excited. Any word on when the case might be wrapped up?"

"Not yet. I just got off the phone with Derek a little while ago and so far, we've only hit a brick wall. Sooner or later we get the break we need, all of us are just praying for sooner." Pen confided quietly in her mother-in-law.

"Well sweetie, just keep on working at it. You guys will figure it out. Tell JJ that Henry is happy as a clam here and not to rush over to get him."

"Okay, I will. Thanks for watching the kids so much lately, Fran. It really helps to be able to run the database searches from my office instead of home. The results are found quicker."

"No problem. I love being a grandma. Lord knows, Derek kept me waiting long enough."

Pen chuckled as her other line flashed read. "Fran, my other line is beeping."

"No problem dear." Fran said and quickly hung up.

Penelope answered the call, this time it was from Team B, needing a background check on a suspect from their case in Oregon. Penelope was running it when phone flashed again.

"Garcia." She answered as she finished the background check and forwarded it to Team B.

"Aww, no clever hello?" whined Emily.

"I'm sorry Em, I didn't know it was you." Pen stopped for a minute and started again. "You've reached the desk of Penelope Garcia-Morgan, the all knowing Oracle of the FBI, what can I help you with?"

Emily laughed, "Now that was more like it. Reid and Derek were looking over the victimology again and they might have found a connection. Can you cross reference the first 5 girls? They were thinking that he might have had a pattern before we showed up and we forced him to come up with a new way to find the girls." Emily explained and patiently waited for her friend to find the answer they needed.

"So. . . among the first 5 girls, they have two things in common. They all were patients of the only dentist in town and they took musical lessons at the high school." Pen recited.

"Okay, can you take the list of all the workers at the high school and cross reference it to any workers at the library? It's were most of the last 6 girls were reported being last seen. If that doesn't make any connections, try for connections between-"

"No need love bug. 5 hits between the high school and the library, John Hardon no criminal history, he teaches history at the high school and volunteers in the winter at the library. George Therault no criminal history either, teaches computers and he works at the library as a librarian in the summer. Marcus Harmand-"

"Wait, PG. Go back to George Therault for a minute. You said he works at the library in the summer? Can you find out when he works?"

"You ask that like you aren't sure it's possible." Penelope quipped as she hacked into the library database.

Hotch came into the conference room and gestured the phone, Emily quickly explained, "Pen and I might have a lead. She's checking on a work schedule for the guy now." When Hotch's eyebrows went up, Em just smiled at him and said, "Plausible deniability." Hotch chuckled and Em refocused on the phone call when Pen got excited over something.  
"You are onto something here gumdrop. George is scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday noon till 6pm. I just re-checked the police reports. With the exception of one of the last 6 girls to go missing, they've all disappeared within a one mile radius of the library all around 6pm and wait for it, all on days that he was scheduled to work. And before you ask, I already logged into the payroll server and he showed up for work when he was scheduled, no missed days and he wasn't late any day either. And-hold on- yup, all 5 of the original girls were students in his computer classes."

"We need a warrant for George Therault's house." Emily said to Hotch as she quickly wrote down the address that Pen recited to her. As Hotch got up from the table and quickly went to file the necessary paperwork, Emily turned her attention back to her friend. "That's what happened to make this guy change his hunting ground. His workplace changed. Thanks Pen!" Em quickly hung up the phone and went to gather the team.

7 hours later:

The BAU team were flying somewhere between Texas and Virginia when Hotch's laptop beeped. Emily, who was sitting next to him, reached over and clicked on the flashing icon on the bottom. JJ's face quickly popped onto the screen and she smiled at her friend.  
"Hey guys, I'm glad you caught the unsub and saved the 6 girls. Any word on burial sites for the other girls yet?"

"Not when we left but the local detective was getting somewhere in the questioning, I think he will break him." Hotch encouraged and gestured for Dave to come over.  
"As great as it is to see you, I'm assuming you want to talk to your husband?" Em smiled.

"Is he sleeping?" JJ asked.

"I'm right here Cara. Is everything okay with the babies?"

"Yeah, everything is fine Dave. I just knew you wouldn't have your laptop out and you wouldn't know how to open Skype even if you did, so I tried Hotch's computer instead. Henry wanted to stay at Pen and Derek's so I'm just getting ready to leave the office. What time are you guys going to land?"

"The pilot estimated approximately 8:25pm local time, JJ." Reid called out.

"Thanks Reid." JJ laughed. "Since we don't have Henry, do you want to go out to dinner tonight?"

"Whatever you want Cara mia."

"Okay, I'll meet you at the airstrip for 8:20 in case the pilot is early. You guys want to join us?" JJ asked with eyebrows raised.

Em looked at Hotch and when he nodded slightly to her, she agreed. Derek was already dialing the plane's phone line to see if Pen wanted to go out tonight.

"Hello, my badass profiling team, since this call is coming from the jet, am I to assume you are on your way home?" greeted Pen.

"Hey baby girl." Derek smiled into the phone. "We're supposed to land in an hour or so. You want to join your badass profilers for dinner?"

"I could probably grace you with my presence," Pen answered as she dialed Fran on her other number. "Hold on let me check with your mom." She quickly changed lines and waited for her mother –in-law to pick up.

"Hey Fran, the team is going out to dinner once they land. Would you mind keeping the kids for a little while later? Derek and I should be home by 10. Uhh, okay. Thanks, Fran." Pen hung up the phone and switched back over to Derek's line.

"Your mom will keep the kids, Hot Stuff."

"That's good, baby girl. I'll see you in an hour."

"Love you, D."

"I love you too Pen."

**Later that night:**

"Did you see Dave's face when JJ put hot sauce on her ice cream?" Pen laughed as she settled into bed beside Derek.

"It was so funny Baby Girl. Then JJ just gave him that _look_. It was like she was daring him to say something." Derek chuckled and Pen felt the laughter as her head rested on his chest.

"Hotch mentioned he has a spot open on Jack's soccer team. Do you think Noah would want to play?" Pen wondered.

"Probably, if for no other reason than to spend more time with Jack. " Derek concluded with a smile. "Those two are inseparable."

"I'm really glad the kids are adjusting and you are finally home." Pen whispered before snuggling deeper into Derek's embrace.

"I'm glad to be home, Baby Girl." Derek murmured as his eyes closed and the couple fell asleep in each other's embrace.

**AUTHORS NOTE: This chapter was mostly fluff, I wasn't really inspired to write anything heavy but not to worry, we've still got Reid and April finding and buying a house, JJ having the babies and if you have sent me a story idea, it is in the making also! **

**Thanks for reading guys!**


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter is dedicated to DaisyAngel. Her suggestion of getting Derek to handle things on his own, completely paved the way for this chapter's creation! Thanks DaisyAngel.**

**Once Upon a Phone Call **

**Chapter 16 **

Derek slid the last grilled cheese sandwich from the pan onto the plate, filled the juice cups and looked around the kitchen with a feeling of accomplishment. Lunch was cooked, the kids were quietly playing downstairs, his mother had left for her dentist appointment and he had convinced Pen to join Emily and JJ at the spa for a much needed girls-day-out. Derek Morgan was the only adult home with his 5 children and he was handling everything pretty well, if he did say so himself.

"Guys, lunch is ready." Derek called and quickly heard feet running towards the kitchen. Derek turned up the monitor so he would be sure to hear Olivia if she woke up and needed him. As the kids took their seats around the table, Ethan came in straggling behind and looking a little pale. Derek saw the thin layer of sweat on the little boy's forehead and knelt down in front of him to see what was wrong.

Ethan's lower lip trembled. "Daddy, I no feel good."

"It's okay buddy, lets-" Derek began and stopped talking when the little boy lurched forward and proceeded to empty his stomach contents all over the floor, himself and Derek.

Derek took a deep breath to calm his nerves before the crying began.

"Ewww!" shrieked Lilly from her spot at the table.

"Yucky," mumbled Grace before going pale herself.

And then as if on cue, Olivia started to wail over the monitor.

"Waaa, daddy! I no feel good! No feel good!" cried Ethan.

Derek's eyes darted back and forth in the room. Hysterical Lilly, calm but disgusted Noah, going to be sick Grace, throw up covered Ethan and a wailing Olivia completed his tasks. _Where to start?_ He thought to himself.

As Derek lifted his own shirt off and then worked on getting Ethan out of his clothes, he asked: "Noah, can you take Grace outside on the patio?" hoping that the fresh air would settle the little girl's stomach. "Ladybug, can you come upstairs with me and help me get Ethan in a bath?" Derek smiled as the little girl raced up the stairs and into the bathroom. Depositing Ethan with Lilly with strict instructions as to not start the water before he returned, Derek sprinted to the nursery.

"It's okay princess, daddy is here." Derek soothed as he picked up the wailing infant and rocked her slightly back and forth as he walked back towards the bathroom. "Shhh, it's okay." He repeated.

Lilly had listened to directions and Ethan was sitting naked in the empty tub. "Good job guys." Derek praised before turning the water on warm and sitting on the toilet to supervise bath time.  
"Daddy, you need more help?" Lilly asked.

"Do you think you could get Noah and Grace to come upstairs with the rest of us?" Derek had barely formed the question fully before Lilly was already out the door. Derek got up and shut the water off and contentedly watched Ethan play in the tub and Olivia sleep in his arms until Lilly returned with the other two kids.

"Hey Grace, are you okay sweetie?"

"Daddy, Ethan gross." Grace answered.

"Ethan doesn't feel good, baby." Derek explained before looking at Noah. "Could you please set up a movie for the girls to watch in their room?"  
"Sure, dad." Noah replied with only a little bit of reluctance before leading both of his sisters out of the bathroom. Derek waited until he heard footsteps in the hallway. "Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you please get me the bouncy seat from Olivia's room? I need to wash Ethan's hair but I can't hold Liv at the same time."

"I don't know what a bouncy seat is. Can't I just watch Ethan while you go get it?"

"Yeah, that will work bud."  
Derek got the seat and settled Olivia in it before looking at Noah. "You know, for somebody who is as good of a kid as you are, I think you deserve to do something special."

"What do you mean something special?"

"Well, I was talking to your Uncle Aaron and apparently there is a spot open on Jack's soccer team. Do you think you'd want to join?"

"Really? Soccer is so cool!" Noah excitedly replied. He ran out of the bathroom and it was less than 3 seconds before Derek heard a crash and then a wail.

"Oh god," Derek said under his breath. "Noah?" Derek called.

"Dad! My wrist hurts a lot!" He cried back.

"Alright buddy. Hold on, I'm coming." He called back as he lifted Ethan out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. Walking into the hallway, Derek immediately spotted Noah cradling his right wrist and sobbing quietly with a basket of toys sprawled all over the floor. "Noah, let me see bud." Derek said consoling as he gently tried to assess the damage. There was some swelling but Derek was pretty sure it wasn't broken. "Let's get you some ice." He led the still crying Noah and carried a towel wrapped Ethan down the stairs and he wrapped a bag of frozen peas in a towel and set Noah up on the couch with a TV show as he dashed upstairs to put some clothes on Ethan and get Olivia out of the bouncy seat.

After getting Ethan dressed, he went into the girl's bedroom and had to take a deep breath. The girls had found a container of markers and had colored all over themselves, the floor and the walls.

"Girls! You do not color on the floor, walls or yourself. Markers are for paper only." Derek scolded calmly as he took all the markers from the floor and placed them back into the container. He shook his head sternly and said, "Now, you guys are going to clean up this mess."

Lilly and Grace were quiet and solemn as they followed Derek down the stairs and into the kitchen to get some cleaning supplies.

Derek groaned loudly when he found the mess in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry dad. I tried to get a sandwich off the plate and heat it up but the plate slipped and fell. I tried to clean it up with the broom but when I tried to get the broom from the closet, popcorn fell from the shelf." Noah quickly explained.

"It's okay buddy. How's your wrist?"

"It hurts when I try to move it." Noah said as Derek took a look.

"Well, it looks better. Just keep the ice pack on it." Derek took two magic erasers and a bucket from the cupboard and said,"I will clean up down here. Can you bring this upstairs and put some warm water in it. You put these white sponges in the water and squeeze them and then clean the marker off the floor and walls. I want the girls to clean it up you might have to show them how to do it though."

"Okay dad." Noah said and carried the bucket in his good hand and led his sisters upstairs. Derek settled Ethan on the couch with some saltines and water with a TV show and Olivia started to fuss in Derek's arms and he looked at the clock only to realize the baby was due to eat a half hour ago.

As he took the formula from the cupboard, a key turned in the front door and Derek's heart sunk a little. He had thought Pen would be out for a little while longer and hoped he would get everything under control before she got home.

"Pen?" he called.

"No honey, my appointment ended early and I thought I would come home and give you a hand." His mother called back and she came to an abrupt stop when she saw the mess in the kitchen and her son still shirtless attempting to make a bottle with one hand while cradling an unhappy Olivia. "What happened here?" she asked with a smile.

"I have no idea how Pen does it, mom. I cooked lunch and Ethan comes down and gets sick all over the place. Olivia wakes up and I give Ethan a bath and then Noah fell upstairs and hurt his wrist. Then I go back upstairs to find Ethan some clothes and I find the marker all over the place in the girl's room. Then I come down here to get some cleaner to clean up the mess only to find the broken plate, and the popcorn spilled everywhere. Now she's hungry and I'm not even sure how many scoops I put into this." Derek concluded as he looked skeptically at the bottle in his hand. He shook it a few times and when the consistency seemed correct, he put it in the bottle warmer and anxiously waited for it to ready to eat.

"Well, it seems pretty quiet right now, where is everybody?" Fran wondered as she carefully made her way past the broken glass and popcorn on the floor to take the vacuum out of the hall closet.

"Noah and the girls are upstairs cleaning up the marker, Ethan is sitting over there watching TV and eating some crackers." Derek told her as he tested the heated bottle on his wrist before guiding it to the hungry baby's mouth.

"I'll clean up down here and start the chicken for dinner." His mom said in a tone that allowed for no argument.

"Thanks mom." Derek gratefully said as he looked over at Ethan and making sure he was still okay before climbing the stairs to check on the cleaning efforts.

"No, Lilly, you have to scrub harder. Like this." Noah instructed and Derek smiled as he saw his oldest son demonstrating the correct way to clean up. _Sometimes, he is such a great help, I forget that he is only 5._

"Thanks for your help buddy. Why don't you go downstairs and see if Grandma Fran will help you call Uncle Hotch. Maybe Jack can sleepover tonight?" Derek suggested and smiled when Noah jumped to his feet in excitement.

"Really? Thanks Dad! I'm gonna go call him right now!" Noah excitedly said as he raced down the stairs.

Turning to look at Grace and Lilly, they looked sad.

"Listen guys, Daddy doesn't like yelling at you but you can't color on the floor and walls like this. Mommy and Daddy work hard to keep the house nice and that means you have to keep the markers on paper okay?"

"Otay Daddy." Grace said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I sorry Daddy." Lilly said shuffling her feet back and forth.

"It's okay Ladybug. Just don't do it again." Derek said and Lilly smiled at the use of her nickname. "How about we finish cleaning up this mess and then we can go outside and play."

The girls quickly agreed and got back to work. With some help from Derek, once he settled Olivia into her bouncy seat again, the mess was quickly cleaned.

**Two hours later:**

The front door clicked shut and Pen put her purse and keys on the kitchen table and slipped off her shoes.

"Anybody home?" called Pen softly. Stepping further into the house, she heard faint sounds coming from the den. She slowly walked down the stairs and her heart warmed at the sight. Derek was lying on the chaise with Lilly under one arm and Grace under the other. All three were asleep and cuddled together under a blanket. Fran was lying on the other end of the couch with Ethan cuddled into her lap and she smiled at Pen when she saw her come down the stairs.

"You have a good time?" Fran whispered.

"It was really good to get out with the girls." Pen whispered back and looked at Olivia who was playing with her toys in her bouncy seat. "But I missed everyone here."

"Honey, trust me, they missed you too." Fran laughed quietly. "I'll let Derek fill you in on the details but let's just say that it wasn't smooth sailing."

Penelope looked to Fran for more details but Fran only shook her head. "Let Derek tell you, trust me, it will make it that much better."

Penelope chose to take Fran's word for it and bent down to unbuckle Olivia. Fran gently lifted Ethan and carried him up the stairs. Pen bent towards Derek and tried to wake him up.

"Derek. . .Babe?" Pen whispered.

"Baby Girl?" Derek mumbled with his eyes still closed.

"Handsome. Can you carry the girls to bed?" Pen asked.

"Yeah." Derek answered and slowly opened his eyes. "You have fun?"

"Yeah we all got to catch up. We talked and I might have a surprise for you." Pen cryptically said and she smiled widely when Derek's eyes lit up at the suggestion of a surprise.

"What do you mean, you _might_ have a surprise?" Derek asked.

"Well Handsome, I guess you are just going to have get that fine butt of yours up the stairs, carry two of our little girls into bed and we can talk about the possible surprise when you get to our room." Pen called softly as she climbed the stairs and laughed when she heard Derek quickly scoop both girls into his arms and follow her up the stairs.

Pen gently lied Olivia in her crib, turned on her mobile and went into her bedroom. Grabbing a box out of her purse she slipped into the bathroom and shut the door. Derek entered the bedroom a few minutes later and knocked on the bathroom door.  
"Pen?"

"I'll be right out Handsome." She called back and Derek sat on the bed to wait.

Two minutes later, Pen slowly opened the bathroom door with shaking hands. Her eyes scanned the room before settling on the steady, loving and devoted man that was her husband.

"Baby Girl? What's wrong momma?" He asked as her face came fully into view and Derek could read the panic in her eyes.

"We talked about it. JJ thought for sure but I never thought." Pen said incoherently.

"Penelope." Derek shook her gently. "Baby, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Pen took a deep breath and said, "It's not really wrong Cupcake. I'm just shocked. Olivia is so little and we are already so busy."

Slowly, Derek put the bits of information together in his head. _She talked to JJ, Olivia is so little, we are already so busy._ Derek went over things Pen had said and his mind came to a startling conclusion.

"Are we gonna have another baby?" He asked with wonder. Pen shook herself free of the panic and shock that was consuming her mind and locked eyes with her husband.

"You said _another_." She put a hand on either one of his cheeks and bent closer to his face.

"Well, you said Olivia is so little, I thought that's what you meant." Derek trailed off before asking, "Is that not what you meant?"

"It's what I meant." Pen nodded.

"Woman, spell it out for me." Derek ordered.

"We're pregnant Derek. We are going to have _another_ baby." Pen whispered and she laughed when Derek pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. He turned them so Pen's back was near the bed and walked her backwards until her knees touched the bed. He gently pushed her back and he chuckled when Pen pulled him down on top of her and they each set out to prove to the other exactly how much they loved the other.


	17. Chapter 17

**Authors Note: I apologize for the delay. Life has been pretty crazy lately! Thanks a ton to everyone who has reviewed, alerted and/or read my previous chapters! You guys make my writing mean something! **

**Disclaimer: Because I haven't said it in a while: I do not own Criminal Minds, the characters (except April) or anything else associated with CBS. I do not get paid to write this story, it is purely for entertainment. **

**Once Upon a Phone Call: **

**Chapter 17: **

"How does this little maggot keep getting around us?" Dave growled as he inspected the white board for a clue they might have missed.

"Statistically speaking, repeat offenders-" Reid began but stopped abruptly when Dave glared at him. "I'm going to get some more coffee." He said abruptly as he hurried from the room.

"Sometimes, you're a bully." Emily scolded before coming to stand next to Dave and she began to inspect the white board before continuing. "We've found four girls so far, there are another 6 missing in the area. All the girls are white with dark hair and dark eyes, aged from 15-20, gone missing when they are alone and vulnerable. He likes to feel like he's in charge, enjoys inflicting pain. This guy is going to be early 20's, probably white, living alone, probably with a criminal past. We gave her this list of what to look for, Garcia is going to find us something." Emily said with conviction. 

"Just knowing, what he did to them. What they had to endure before he finally had the decency to kill them, it sickens me." Dave confessed quietly.

"We'll get him Dave. He's going to pay for what he's done." Em stated matter of factly and smiled at him. "Then we can get you home to your pregnant wife and adorable son." Dave smiled back at her just as the conference phone began to ring. Hotch reached over to push the speakerphone button and Garcia's perky voice filled the room.

"Alright, my little cupcakes, there is only one guy who meets the criteria you gave me in a fifty mile radius. His name is Ronald Wilt, 22, lives at 163 Munroe Street, he works as a janitor at the mall downtown, he's single, never married and- wait a minute, it seems our guy has a juvenile record." Pen rambled off as the team gathered around the conference table.

"Can you-" Hotch began before Derek cut him off.

"Are you sure you want to finish that question man?" Derek raised his eyebrows at the older profiler.

"He was 16 when he was convicted of assaulting a 14 year old girl. Girl is white with brown hair. Report says the girl was surprised by Wilt when she was walking home from the mall. She reported she was gagged and he tried to take off her clothes but stopped when some passerby spotted them and scared him off." Pen rattled off and paused before continuing. "And I heard that Boss Man."

Derek laughed as Hotch just shook his head and the team went off in search of their suspect.

**20 minutes later:**

Emily Prentiss was in hell. Her stomach rolled for the fourth time in ten minutes, Derek, her partner for the search mission was charging ahead and kept giving her odd looks at her inability to keep up, the unsub that they were chasing through the hilly woods of West Virginia happened to be extremely physically fit and enjoyed hunting dark haired white women in these very woods that she and Derek were currently combing for him.

"Prentiss!" Derek hissed from 15 feet ahead of her.

"What?" She hissed back and rolled her eyes at him when he gestured with his hands, suggesting she should move faster. "You know what, Derek?" Emily whispered as she paused to steady herself against a nearby tree. "It is not my freaking fault that our unsub just happened to disappear into the woods as we pulled up!" She whispered to them, both of their attentions focused on the woods surrounding them, searching for the elusive unsub. Emily took a deep breath to attempt and settle her stomach before continuing. "Since you feel like charging ahead, why don't you climb to the top of that hill over there and see if you can get some reception. Try and check in with Hotch and Dave and see if they've seen any sign of him. I'll cover you from down here." Emily whispered to Derek and he nodded quickly before jogging to the nearby hill and climbing to the top. Fiddling with his cell phone trying to get it to get some service, Derek never even saw him advancing.

Emily felt the atmosphere around her change. She held her breath, closed her eyes and tried to separate the noises that should be present and attempting to locate the potential noise of danger._ Birds chirping, water running the creek bed, the swoosh of the wind blowing through the leaves, the distinctive click of metal upon metal; a bullet being loaded into the chamber._ In an instant, she threw herself into the leaves as she yelled, "GUN!" A bullet whizzed over her head and impaled the tree right behind her, leaving a large whole where her head was only seconds before.

On the top of the hill, Derek hit the grass with a thud and had his gun out of its holster and was scanning the trees for any sign of the unsub by the time Emily yelled again.

"Morgan! South east corner, suspect is armed!" Emily yelled. She was lying on her belly, in between three trees that provided the perfect cover to keep watch for their unsub.

"You got it?" Derek called, hoping the Em would understand he wanted her to cover him so he could get down from the top of the hill. 

"Yup." Emily answered. She fired a few shots into the tree area hoping to disrupt the concentration of the unsub long enough for Derek to get off of the hill and to join her at the bottom.

As he settled in next to her and joined her scan of the area, he said quietly, "Hotch and Dave are tracking our location. They should be here in 5 minutes."

"Good." Emily whispered back as she caught a glimpse of movement from her left. Turning to the left, she heard the bullet before she felt it.

The bullet struck her vest, on her left shoulder and Emily was flat on her back and dazed from the pain.

"Prentiss!" Morgan yelled and tugged on her good arm to pull her into their sanctuary. The trees shielded her from the unsub's view and Morgan tried to assess her damage while keeping watch. "You still with me?" Morgan asked quietly.

"Uh huh." She mumbled quietly. "Hurts like a bitch."

"It only hit the vest, right?" Derek questioned.

Emily tried to move her left arm to check and let out a loud curse instead. "I think my shoulder is dislocated." She whispered to him as a few tears involuntarily escaped and ran down her cheeks.

"Any blood?" Derek asked as he compartmentalized. _This son of a bitch had shot his partner and his blood was boiling for justice._

" No, it's just my shoulder and I'm going to have one hell of a bruise." She muttered under her breath.

"I know, Em." Derek consoled quietly. "Dave and Hotch have to be close. Once they get here, we can catch this bastard and we can get you to the hospital."

"Derek Morgan!" Emily chastised quickly. "I am not going to the hospital for a menial bruise and my shoulder being dislocated." And then, as if to prove her point, she braced her left arm against the tree trunk and turned her body. She inhaled and held her breath, refusing to be louder than absolutely necessary and she pushed with all of her might against the tree. Finally she heard a satisfying pop as her shoulder slid back in place. She let out a large breath of air and wiggled her fingers on her left hand. "Good as new." She whispered to him. "Let's get the bastard."

"Remind me never to piss you off, Prentiss." Derek smirked at her and then they started to silently advance on the unsub's position.

**3 hours later:**

Hotch had put his foot down and demanded that Emily get checked out at the hospital.

"I can't believe you pulled rank on me." Emily muttered. "How's the couch feel on your back, Aaron?"

"Cut it out Em. Don't push me right now. You went in after that bastard even though you should of thought about the baby." Hotch said in a quiet voice.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I wore a vest Aaron! We do a dangerous job and there are NO guarantees! You do the _same_ job and I don't yell at you when you get a close call!" Em yelled from her spot on the hospital bed. "Do you really think that little of me? You think I would put the baby in danger? You _know_ how hard this was to make happen and you're seriously going to sit there like a know-it-all bastard?"

"Your actions and words contradict each other, Prentiss." Aaron answered in a stony voice.

"Get the hell out." Em said in a quiet voice. When Hotch didn't move, she yelled. "GET OUR AGENT HOTCHNER!" Tears ran down her cheeks and when Hotch looked up and saw how upset she was he tried to wipe them away. Emily slapped his hand away. "Get out Aaron." Hotch shook his head gently and slowly left the room almost colliding with Derek in the hallway.

Noticing the distressed look on his friend's face, he asked, "Everything cool man? Emily's okay right?"

"She just doesn't think before she acts. Today could have been a lot worse." Aaron started and then continued. "I could have lost her."

"But you didn't. That's the part you've got to focus on man. What was the fight about anyway?" Derek asked. Seeing the conflict in Hotch's face, he suggested a different idea. "Let's grab some coffee."

While Derek was consoling Hotch, Emily had pulled her laptop to her bedside and was logging into her skype account. Seeing her friend's bubbly face appear on the screen made Em break out into a fresh batch of tears.

"Angelfish! What is wrong? Are you in pain? Did the doctors miss something? Hold on, I'll call Derek, he'll figure it out. Don't worry cupcake! We'll fix it." Pen hurriedly tried to fix her friend's problem.

"I had a fight with Hotch." Em confessed quietly.

"Ooh sweetie. Tell me what happened."

Pen listened quietly as Em began to tell her about the fight. "Wait! Go back for a minute, baby?" Pen watched her friend with a very excited look and when Emily nodded, Pen shrieked. "How far along are you?"

"Almost 9 weeks."

"Oh my god Cupcake! I'm so happy for you! This is perfect, we can go shopping together and go to prenatal yoga, oooh and we can get JJ to show us how to make that delicious baby shower cake and-" Pen rambled off.

Em looked a little surprised. _Why would I be going to prenatal yoga with Pen? Unless, wait a minute!_ "Your pregnant!" she shouted.

Pen stopped suddenly and looked at her friend through the computer screen. A rush of emotions ran across her features before she said quickly. "Don't tell Derek I told you. He wanted to make a big announcement in a couple of weeks after the twin's birthday party. He has everything planned." Pen smiled. "I'm five weeks, as long as my math is right. I'm going to the doctor on Monday, they said they could tell me then."

"I'm happy for you Pen." Em smiled at her friend through the screen and almost forgot about her fight with Hotch.

"Okay momma, time to fill your friend in on the rest of the juicy details from the recent disagreement you had with our fearless leader." Pen prodded and when Em looked reluctant, Penelope just folded her arms and patiently waited.

Once Emily had recounted the rest of the argument to Pen, both women were silent for a minute before Pen offered some advice.

"Alright gumdrop, wherever Hotch is now, he's regretting what he said to you. He doesn't think that you put yourself or the baby in danger on purpose. Our boss man has one weakness, the people he loves. Losing you and the baby would devastate him; he really would never be the same again. And then there's Jack, losing a second mom to the hands of a monster his dad was chasing down, would destroy that little boy." Pen paused a minute to let what she said sink in before continuing. "Hotch shouldn't of said what he said _how_ he said it. He loves you and you love him, just talk it out and get your butts back here so we can have a night out."

Em smiled at her friend and whispered, "thanks Pen, my brain knew what he meant but it hurt too much to realize."

"That's love chickadee, it messes with your brain and puts your heart in overdrive." Pen replied before logging off her chat and calling her husband.

"Hey handsome."

"What's up baby girl?"

"Any chance you are with our fearless leader?"

"Yeah baby, you would be right."

"He's right there, isn't he?"

"Ok momma, we should be home by 5 tonight and we can go out for dinner?"

"Okay baby boy, you are with him and dinner sounds good, I will call Ashley and Sarah and see if they can watch the kids tonight. I was just talking to Em and she knows Hotch is beating himself up over what he said to her. Can you get him to talk to her?"

Derek looked at the depressed man beside him. They were sitting side by side on a bench near the hospital cafeteria. Hotch was gripping his paper cup of coffee so hard, Derek was surprised they both weren't covered in the lackluster brew.

"I can do that Princess."

"Handsome, I love you."

"Love you too baby. See you tonight."

Pen hung up her phone and went to find JJ. Her blond friend was sitting at her desk, her shoes slipped off, munching on a chocolate bar and looking over some paperwork. Pen walked in and sat down on the only chair not filled with files.

"How is my little blond angelfish this afternoon?" Pen asked with a smile as JJ put the paperwork she was looking over down and tried to smile for her friend. "That good huh? Is there anything your easily-excitable-eager-to-please friend can do to help?"

"It's fine Pen, I'm just tired. My feet are swollen my back is killing me, I'm grumpy because I've already consumed my allotment of caffeine for the day and I'm craving a strong cup of caffeinated coffee and on top of all that, my husband isn't here to make things just a little bit better." JJ rambled on getting sadder and sadder as she went through her list of complaints.

"Well, fear no more cupcake. I just got off the phone with Derek and they will be home by 5 tonight." 

"Oh Pen, that's great. Are you sure they will have everything wrapped up that soon?"

"Derek said that as soon as the discharge paperwork was completed, they were all heading to the airport and the jet was already on standby." Pen said and froze when she realized the panicked look on her friend's face. "JJ? What's wrong?" 

"Discharge paperwork? That means hospital. . . Who was hurt Penelope? What happened? Why didn't someone call me?" JJ frantically asked.

"JJ, calm down, it isn't good for the babies or you. Just take a deep breath and I will tell you everything." Pen calmly said and once JJ had calmed down a little, Pen told her everything.

"Why didn't Dave call me?"

"Agent tall dark and Italian probably didn't want to upset you when he knew it wasn't anything serious."

"Serious? Em got shot!"

"It was in her vest and she's only going to sport a pretty good bruise for a while. I promise, Jay, she's fine."

"Fine or not, my husband has a few things to answer to when they get off the jet." JJ said with such conviction in her voice, it left Pen with an intense desire to escape back into her own office.

"I should call Fran and let her know she can have the night off." Pen excused herself from JJ's office and was almost to the door when JJ called out again.

"Hey Pen, do me a favor and don't let Dave know that I'm mad or I know anything okay? I want him to get the full effect of not telling me the truth."

"No problem JJ." Pen replied and shook her head. David Rossi didn't have a freaking clue about what was coming down the tracks and boy was he going to be surprised!


	18. Chapter 18

Authors Note: For the purposes of the story, I'm making Henry almost 4 so in the flashback he was two. I'm really sorry that I haven't steadily been updating! Life has been crazy and I've been working on a different story too so this one has taken a short ride in the backseat. Thank you so much to all of the loyal readers out there, you guys give me inspiration to keep writing even when my imagination doesn't want to! THANKS!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters!

Once Upon a Phone Call

Chapter 18:

JJ's foot impatiently tapped at the floor as she sat on the reasonably comfortable couch in the waiting area of the BAU hangar. She checked her watch for the fifth time in two minutes and rubbed her belly in hopes of getting the girls to calm down. "

"It's okay, Mommy was really mad earlier but Mommy promises not to _kill_ your daddy, she just wants to teach him a lesson." JJ said quietly in the direction of her very large baby bump. "Besides, when daddy messes up, he owes mommy and mommy has a very severe craving for sausage pizza and garlic bread." JJ was quiet for a moment until a sudden kick to her ribcage left her shifting positions and rubbing the affected area. She anxiously watched as the jet slowly came down further from the sky.

A door swung open behind her and she smiled to April as her friend hurried inside the hangar.

"They haven't landed yet." JJ comforted April and gestured to the couch she was sitting in earlier. "You can make yourself comfortable if you want, once they land, it's going to be at least 20 minutes before anyone can leave."

"Thanks, Jay." April responded on auto pilot and then suddenly spoke up. "Hey Jayje?"

Sensing the stress in her friend's voice, JJ immediately got concerned for her younger friend. "What's wrong, April?"

"Pen sent a text to me and said," April paused a minute as she brought up the text on her phone so she could read it word for word. "Please get your friendly behind to the BAU hangar asap. Our blonde expectant momma has it out for her Italian husband and she should be reminded that she loves him before striking back." April looked up from her phone and smiled at her seemingly peaceful counterpart. "Want to fill me in on some details?"

JJ sighed and recounted the reader's digest version to April as they sat together on the couch. "I was pretty mad when Pen told me about it earlier but I'm calmed down much more now. David still should have told me but I get why he didn't. I'm more concerned with getting dinner than I am with killing him." JJ admitted with a chuckle. "Once the girls get here, I'm sure my angry streak will return with a vengeance." The two women laughed and behind them to door suddenly swung open and the team funneled in.

"What's so funny ladies?" Derek asked with a smile of his own.

"Just an inside joke, Morgan." JJ waved him off when he went to inquire further and instead asked, "Who's hungry?" A chorus of approval ran through the team.  
"Pen said she already dropped Henry and Jack off at her house with Derek's mom and two girls from the neighborhood are going to babysit tonight. So we are clear on the kid front. She said she will meet us at the pizza place in a half hour." Derek recited out loud as he read from his text messages. And when he smiled and arched his eyebrows a little before hastily replying to his wife's text message. JJ smiled to herself as the team made their way to the cars, apparently Derek and Penelope had an inside joke of their own going on tonight.

As Dave started the engine, JJ cleared her throat.

"I didn't mention it in there because I didn't want to cause a scene in front of everyone but I expect you to share information as you receive it, David Rossi." JJ warned with a tone of ice in her voice.

"That's not love I hear in your voice, Bella." Dave sighed. He knew when he had made the original decision to not include his wife immediately, he stood a pretty good chance of pissing his wife off but he was willing to pay the price if it meant she was keeping their baby girls less stressed and healthier.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, Cara." Dave shook his head with frustration. "I was trying to protect you, if it was time sensitive and if you could have done anything to help from Virginia, I would have made the damn call myself, I swear it," he vowed.

"I believe you Dave." JJ whispered quietly.

"What's wrong Bella?" Dave asked, the concern heavy in his voice.

Instead of answering him, Jennifer broke into a fit of tears. "I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I know you love me, and I love you, and I just, I don't know!"

Dave cursed under his breath and pulled off the road. Parking the car in the deserted parking lot of a shopping center, Dave got out of his seat and went over to his wife's side.

"Cara, Cara mia. Come here." Dave murmured as he unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay, baby."

"No, it's not okay. I don't even know why I'm crying." JJ blubbered, half crying/half laughing as Dave just rubbed her back in calming circles. A few minutes later, her tears started to get under control and she pulled back out of Dave's embrace to look him in the eyes. "Once the girls are here, I expect you to tell me everything you know, as you know it."

"You got it, babe. I promise to tell you things as soon as I know about them." Dave vowed and then quickly amended. "Once the girls are here."

"Thank you." JJ leaned up and kissed her husband softly on the lips. "Today at work, I was thinking and I think I finally have names for the girls." She smiled at him before continuing. "Sophia and Charlotte."

"Jenn, they are perfect names for our little girls." Dave whispered as he stared into her eyes. "Our mom's would be honored that we named the girls after them."

JJ smiled at David and they shared a passionate kiss. Jenn broke the kiss and Dave groaned with displeasure. "Your daughters are demanding sausage pizza and garlic bread," she whispered.

"Well, then we can't keep them waiting." Dave whispered back, before kissing her quickly again and helping her into her seat.

3 weeks later:

"Dave," JJ nudged her husband. "Dave." she tried again. "David!" She shoved him harder and poked him in the ribs. He groaned and rolled away from her. "David Alexander Rossi!" She shouted.

Dave sat up abruptly and immediately started reaching for his wife. "Jenn? Jennifer? Is everything okay?" He rapidly questioned.

"My water just broke and my contractions are about 3 minutes apart." JJ informed him calmly and she attempted to breathe in preparation for the next one.

Dave only heard the phrase "my water broke" and he had jumped out of bed and began pulling on his clothes. Racing to the closet, he began tossing things out of his way; in search of something he had placed there months earlier.

"The bag for the hospital is already in the car." JJ said through clenched teeth as she attempted to breathe deeply.

"Alright sweetheart," Dave shushed her and sat beside her as he went to work massaging her back and after a minute or so, she relaxed into his embrace. He slowly scooped her up into his arms and started to make his way to the car.

She took two deep breaths and closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the contractions that were wreaking havoc on her body. She felt her Dave gently place her on the seat and reach over and around her belly to buckle her seatbelt. She opened her eyes suddenly and smiled gently at him.

"You okay cara?" Dave asked gently as he reached over to cup her face gently.

"I'm okay, Dave." She assured him quickly before reaching up and pulling his face to hers. She kissed him gently at first and when he tried to deepen the kiss, she didn't even hesitate to grant his tongue entrance. Feeling the beginning of the next contraction, JJ ignored the tugging of her muscles and ignored it until suddenly she felt a strong kick to her abdomen. She chuckled gently into her husband's kiss.

Dave pulled back and raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"The babies are kicking like crazy. And I was ah-" JJ cut off abruptly as the contraction hit a new high. Dave just rubbed her back in small circles and tried to alleviate his wife's pain in any way he could. When the contraction had ended, JJ looked tiredly up at him and finished, "I was just thinking it was ironic that even when I'm in labor, the girls are still commanding the attention and won't grant us a minute to ourselves." She smiled at her husband. "You ready for this Rossi?"

FLASHBACK:

Dave's memory flashed to a scene about 9 months ago. They had just come home from a nasty case out west and Dave was hesitant to separate from JJ at the airport.

"Is Henry at Rosa's house?" Dave asked.

And when JJ didn't respond immediately, he stopped walking and pulled lightly on her hand to face him. "Jen? Are you okay?" Dave tried to pull her face up so he could see into her eyes but she pulled away.

"Dave, we have to talk. I'm not sure where this is going between the two of us and I don't want to confuse Henry." JJ confessed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dave questioned and when JJ still refused to look at him, he continued. "Since you are worried about confusing him you either think I'm not serious about us or you aren't serious about us. And I've sure as hell made my intentions clear about _both_ of you."

"Dave, I'm sorry. I just can't be sure." She responded tearfully.

When he shook his head and closed his eyes to take a deep breath before asking. "_Why?_ Why now JJ? Why today?"

"Theresa called me and wanted to know what I would recommend ordering at the restaurant we had lunch at last week. I tried to correct her and tell her that we didn't go out to lunch last week but she insisted she had seen us having lunch there. Well, more specifically saw you there talking to a blonde woman about my height. Theresa had assumed the blonde woman was me. Obviously she had no idea that I wasn't there." JJ paused and let the knowledge that she had found out sink in with Dave before continuing. "I pushed it out of my head and refused to think that way until earlier today when I tried to check my email. You had never logged out when you borrowed my laptop last night so when I brought up the website, your email was still there. Care to tell me who Karissa, Michelle and Ava are?" She hissed at him angrily. "How dare you attack me for trying to protect my son from the inevitable? Screw you Rossi!" JJ yelled as she stormed off in the direction of her car and her son.

Rossi stared after her dumbfounded. The woman he had eaten lunch with was the caterer for a surprise party he was planning for JJ's birthday and the emails were from the party planner, his editor's assistant and the flower shop owner. Dave took a deep breath and set out to make a plan to pick up the pieces of his life before they were no longer repairable.

JJ was pissed off. She felt foolish and at the root of her pain she was mad at herself for believing in him, for believing that she was truly different and the legendary David Rossi wanted her and Henry. _He's David Freaking Rossi, Jennifer! _Her mind yelled at her. JJ took a few deep breaths and after wiping her eyes she started to drive towards her babysitter's house. After picking Henry up from the babysitter, JJ had headed home. Just as she had stopped at the stoplight less than a mile from her apartment when she heard a whimper from the backseat.

"Momma?" Henry groggily called out to her.

"It's okay buddy, we're almost home." JJ softy soothed him as the light turned green and she turned onto her street.

"Dabe is?" Henry questioned.

"Dave isn't coming over tonight, buddy."

"I want Dabe!" Henry wailed in response.

"Honey, Dave can't come over tonight." JJ tried to reason as she pulled her car into its parking spot and killed the engine.

"I want Dabe!" Henry cried out again.

JJ sighed lightly to herself as she gathered her stuff from the front seat and got out and bent in to unbuckle Henry.

Henry continued to sniffle and cry lightly as JJ carried him up the stairs and into the lobby of her apartment building. JJ stopped short when she came to the elevators.

Taped to the door was a single white envelope with one word written on the front: Jen. JJ's heart sped up a little on impulse as she recognized the handwriting immediately. Trying to juggle Henry and her bags was proving too difficult to peel off the envelope at the same time so JJ looked around for a nearby bench or chair to place her bags on but instead she heard a throat clear right behind her. Turning quickly to find the source, she saw the troubled eyes of the infuriating man responsible for her crabby mood.

"Dave? What are you doing here?" JJ questioned.

"I'm sorry cara." Dave began.

"Dabe?" Henry suddenly sat up off his mother's shoulder and immediately beamed at the older man. "Dabe!" He proclaimed and reached out for him. Immediately reaching for the boy, Dave didn't hesitate until he had almost grabbed Henry from JJ. He paused and searched her eyes for reluctance and saw none so he quickly grabbed the boy and smiled when Henry settled his head on his broad shoulder.  
"I'm so sorry Jen." Dave began again and when JJ's head shook lightly and her eyes closed, he tried something different. "Why don't we go upstairs and settle the little guy in for the night? I brought you a bottle of your favorite red wine and maybe then we can talk."

JJ just nodded tiredly and the trio entered the elevator together. After entering the apartment, putting Henry in his crib and pouring himself and JJ a healthy dose of wine, he went in search of JJ. He found her curled up at the end of her couch, staring blankly into space. Dave sat near her and placed the glasses of wine on the table.

"JJ?" He softly called.

Her eyes blinked a few times and she sat up to face him. "How did this happen to us Dave? I thought we were doing great, we were on the same page, you had covered us with Strauss, Henry was adjusting really well. . . Wait, is that it? You started to feel trapped by us? I asked you again and again if that was the case, Rossi! You insisted that everything was fine! Why would you cheat on me like that? How could you?" She cried, tears streaming down her face. Dave sat back calmly letting her get everything off her chest and when it seemed like she was done, he began.

"The woman I had lunch with is helping me plan a surprise for you. I don't want to ruin it for you but her name is Raina Simmons and she is a caterer. You can google her. As for the emails you found," Dave pulled out print outs of the email conversations and handed them to a shocked JJ. "They are from the flower shop owner, my editor's assistant and the party planner." Waiting for a minute to let JJ look over the emails and let the truth sink in, he continued. " I would never cheat on you Jen. When I'm not by your side, I'm counting down the minutes until I can be with you and Henry again. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we are building here. I know how lucky I am to have gotten a chance with you in the first place. I might be old but I'm still smart enough to know what kind of good thing I have."

"They really are just planning something with you?" JJ asked in a small voice.

"I swear babe. It's all business. They don't interest me in the least." David vowed.

JJ put the emails down with shaky hands. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Dave. I think it just blindsided me and it scares me that I could lose you." She whispered.

"Oh baby, you will never lose me." He promised as he pulled her into his embrace and let her cry into his shirt. "Shhh, cara mia. It's okay. We're okay." Dave murmured into her hair as her rocked her slowly as he waited for her crying to stop. He carried her gently to the bed and when he had settled her onto the pillows and went to step away, she reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

"Stay." She whispered to him before kissing him passionately. Things between them were heating up when suddenly Henry cried out from his bed. The couple separated and Jen smiled at Dave.

"You ready for this Rossi?"

"You bet your ass I'm ready, Jareau."

End of Flashback:

Dave shook himself out of his trip down memory lane and smiled at his wife as he repeated his original phrase from months before.

"You bet your ass I'm ready, Jareau."

And with that, Dave buckled himself into the driver's seat and set out in the direction of the hospital while JJ started making phone calls, alerting the rest of the BAU family that the two Rossi girls were making their debut shortly.


	19. Chapter 19

Authors Note: I want to personally thank whoever nominated this story for the Profiler's Choice Criminal Minds 2011 Awards! It was a complete surprise, I am super flattered and it feels awesome! Thanks a bunch to all of my readers and reviewers, you guys keep me going and make my writing mean something!

This chapter is only a bit of fluff between Morgan and Garcia, I promise the next chapter will be much longer. JJ will have the babies, April and Spencer will go house hunting, Morgan and Garcia will visit the obstetrician and Emily and Hotch will find out what sex the baby is. MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO FOLKS!

Once Upon a Phone Call

Chapter 19:

"Ugh." Penelope grunted in her sleep as the shrill ringing of the phone broke the sleepy silence in her bedroom. Slapping at Derek's chest gently she tried to get him to stop the noise. "Derek." She grumbled, "Get phone."

Derek reached over and picked up the television remote and mumbled, "Hello?"

The ringing continued and Penelope raised her head from her pillow regretfully and looked around for the phone. Turning back to see Derek with the remote propped against his ear as he continued to snore, Penelope smiled lightly to herself. _Derek Morgan is my chocolate sculpted god but he still acts like such a man_ she smiled to herself as she finally found the cordless phone on her dresser and checked the caller id. Her pulse sped up when she realized it was JJ that had called. Immediately pressing the redial button, Penelope held her breath until JJ answered.

"Gumdrop? Are you okay? Are my nieces okay? Do you need me to come over? Should I call David? Oh wait-Derek's home-David should be home too. How about-" Penelope anxiously rambled.

"Pen" JJ firmly interrupted. "The girls are coming, Dave and I are on our way to the hospital now. Dave called Hotch, he said he was going to call Reid. Do you think you could get Fran to watch Henry? We had to bring him with us but he's not going to be able to be in the room with me."

"Of course, Cupcake. You just focus all of your energy on getting those babies here safely. I'll take care of it." Penelope promised and she quickly said goodbye as she heard JJ's sharp intake of breath, indicating the start of another contraction.

"Handsome." Penelope called out to Derek as she started to change but she didn't see any movement from the man in the bed. "Derek." She said a little louder.

Derek sat up sharply and looked around his bedroom with confusion. "Baby girl?" He asked, "What's goin on?"

"JJ's in labor, Dave and her are on their way to the hospital now. Can you stay with the kids until later and can you wake up your mom now so she can come get Henry from JJ and Dave and bring him back here?" Penelope rattled off as she sped around the room, quickly getting ready to leave.

Derek thanked his lucky stars that he had always been an early riser and adapted to being woken up quickly because otherwise, he would have missed everything his wife had just told him.

Derek pushed the blankets off of his legs and stood quickly. He stretched and yawned and when he opened his eyes, Penelope was shamelessly checking him out.

"See something you like, Beautiful?"

"Maybe," Penelope playfully responded before going over and placing her lips onto his. "I love you, Derek Morgan and your body is fantastic but one of my best friends is in labor and as much as you want me to push you back into our bed and have my way with you, you're going to have to wait."

Derek chuckled and leaned down to kiss her again. "You're something else, momma."

Penelope pushed him away and steered him towards the bedroom door. "I know I am fantastic stud muffin, but even though I'm awesome, you have to go wake up your mom." Penelope swatted at his butt and smiled when he playfully growled at her before kissing her deeply.

"Hmmm." Penelope mumbled against his lips.  
Derek drew the kiss to a close and kissed her forehead gently. "You go help JJ today but tonight you are all mine."

"Absolutely." Penelope quickly agreed.

After kissing Penelope again, Derek hurried downstairs to wake up his mom.

As Penelope backed the minivan out of the driveway, her cell phone lit up and vibrated from her bag. Fran smiled at her daughter in law as she read the screen.

"It's Derek." Fran said.

Penelope reached her hand out and Fran gave her the cell phone.

"What's up, Handsome?"

"Hey momma, I just realized that we are the ones going to be rushing to the hospital in 8 months and I wanted to hear your voice." Derek said quietly.

"Aww sugar plum, you sure know how to make a girl melt." Penelope smiled as she turned onto the main road. "I love you stud. Your mom will be back soon with Henry, can you please call Sarah around 8 and tell her we will pay her double if she can stay for the day with your mom, please apologize that it is last minute." She recited into the phone and smiled at the silence on the other end of the phone. "Cat got your tongue Handsome?"

"Hush woman, my tongue is fine woman and you know it." Derek flirted and smiled when he heard Penelope's light laughter float through the phone. "I was quiet because I was getting a pen to write myself a note to call Sarah."

"Likely story." Penelope teased. "I'll call you when I know something about JJ, call me if the kids have an issue, remember that Noah has soccer this afternoon, can you call Jessica and see if she can drive Noah when she drives Jack? Grace and Lily have-"

Derek cut her off, "gymnastics at 11:30. I got it momma, you wrote it on the calendar. I've got it under control Pen. Relax, baby girl."

"I love you." Penelope said gratefully.

"I love you too crazy woman." Derek teased before hanging up the phone without giving her a chance to reply.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters mentioned. (Except April)

Once Upon a Phone Call

Chapter 20:

David Rossi cringed as he heard a crack and an unmistakable crack come from his left hand. Wincing lightly and cursing under his breath, he tried to focus on his wife's face instead of the pain and was startled to find the JJ's ice blue eyes were focused on him.

"Did I just hear you curse, David Rossi?" JJ hissed threateningly.

"I'm sorry Bella, I-" David started and stopped abruptly when he felt JJ increase the pressure on his injured hand.

"I am in more pain than you could ever even imagine and if you think that I'm going to sit here and comfort you then you are truly insane! Now, you either be extremely supportive and help me deliver these babies or you get the hell out. If you are going to be a wimp, do it in the hall. I don't have time for this." JJ breathed out in between contractions and in an instant David Rossi was faced with a deadly enemy who was more than capable of exacting her revenge.

The sliding doors opened with a swish and Penelope and Fran quickly headed towards the elevators. After finding the floor number for labor and delivery and pressing the up button, Penelope asked Fran, "Are you sure you are up to watching all of the kids today? Derek will be there some of the day to help you but adding Henry and Jack in sometimes can cause some chaos."

Fran smiled at her. "I'll be fine Penelope, I've waited for so many years to be a grandma and now that it's finally here, I relish each challenge."

Penelope gave her a questioning look and Fran laughed. "I think you are forgetting something Penelope, I raised Derek." The two women laughed at the truth in that statement as they walked down the hallway towards the labor & delivery waiting room.

Downstairs in the gift shop, April smiled to herself as Spencer analyzed the two bears in his hands. "Should I get them the same bear or different ones? Studies have shown that twins who are gifted with matching toys tend to-" Reid rattled off and stopped abruptly when he felt April gently cover one of his hands with hers.

"I think whichever bears you get, the girls will love because you thought to buy them. These girls are surrounded by people who love them and that really is all that matters." April softly said.

"Thank you." Reid said gratefully. "It comes a complete surprise to me but I want to be here again with you one day."

April's heart sped up a little at his confession but held her excitement at bay until she got some clarification.

Reid took April going still as a bad sign and tried to back track. "If that isn't what you want, I'm sorry that I said anything." Reid paused and picked up a different set of bears. "How about these?"

"Wait." April said softly and took the bears from him and placed them back on the shelf before taking his hands in hers and waiting until his gaze met hers. "What did you mean by you want to be here again with me one day?"

Reid took a moment to put his feelings into words and tried to express it to April. "I've never felt this way about anyone before so I'm not sure what it is that I feel. I'm really happy with the way things are going and I keep imagining us going further into the future together. And with that future I imagine that you and I will have children." Reid paused for a moment and realized that April had gone still again. "I'm sorry. I pushed too much too soon; I shouldn't have told you that."

"Yes."

"I know I'm sorry." Reid grimaced and was mentally kicking himself.

"What?" April shook her head gently and tried again. "No, that's not what I meant Spence. I love you and I've had the same thoughts about us I just didn't want to push things on you too soon. I would love to be back here one day with you." She reached up to kiss him and was surprised to feel tears running down her face. "I love you Spencer Reid."

"I love you too." He said in between kisses as they made their love known to all the gift shop's patrons and the elderly man at the register.

As it turned out, David Rossi was a strong man. He refused to acknowledge the pain in his hand as his wife channeled her pain in time with her contractions. When the doctor finally gave JJ the "ok" to push, both parents were sweaty and panting from pain.

"Alright sweetie, I need you to focus and push as hard as you can on my count, ready? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . and breathe." The nurse coached JJ as she wiped at her forehead.

JJ reached over with her free hand to pull her husband's face down to be level with her. "Do you remember when we were talking about maybe having another baby after the girls? Well, it will never happen, do you hear me David Freaking Rossi? I had forgotten how much this sucked! Well, let me tell YOUUUU-" JJ trailed off as the pain of the next contraction hit her and once she had pushed for the nurse's count, she turned back to face him. "I can't do this. Please just make it stop, David." She said softly as tears welled up in her eyes.

Dave reached over and caressed her face gently. "I would take a turn if I could baby, I'm really sorry that you have to do all of the work to get the girls here but there is a waiting room full of people that are anxious to help with them once we get them home. You are the strongest, most beautiful woman that I've ever laid eyes on. You can do this Jenn." David kissed her and heard the beeping of the monitor behind him. "Get ready babe. Let's make this one count."

And with that, JJ put her mind to it and in no time at all the room was filled with the squalls of a newborn baby girl. Two minutes later, JJ and David Rossi were the proud parents of two brown haired, blue eyed little girls.

"Grandma? Daaad?" Noah called from upstairs.

Derek cringed, he had learned that Noah only called him in that tone when there was a particularly big mess to clean. He sighed softly and started up the stairs. Once he reached the landing, he found what Noah had been talking about. The entire hallway was covered with white baby powder and in the middle of it all was Lilly and Ethan. They were swirling their hands and feet in it and squealing with delight. Noah stood off to the side with a look of shock on his face. Henry came out of Grace's room and came to a halt when he saw the mess on the floor in front of him.

"Uh oh." Henry said softly.

"You're right Henry, this is an uh-oh." Derek said with firm voice. As adorable as this was, it was going to be hell to clean up.

Lilly and Ethan looked up quickly when they heard Derek's voice and they quickly started in his direction. Derek bent down and scooped them up.

"You two are trouble." Derek said.

"You are rubbing off on them." Fran said from behind him with a smile. "I'm lucky you were my last one because if you had come first or second, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have two sisters." Fran teased Derek as she snatched Lilly from his arms. The little girl gave a squeal of laughter and she kissed Fran on the cheek before squirming to get down and running off to create more mayhem somewhere else. Ethan was content to stay with his daddy as he lay his head on Derek's chest.

"He really loves you." Fran observed.

"I really love him." Derek started and then paused for a minute before continuing. "I didn't know what I was missing. Without Pen, without the kids, I used to think- I used to think I knew what life was about. " Derek shook his head and ran his free hand over his bald head. "I didn't have a clue." He confided.

"No one gets it until they are a parent, Derek. Life takes a whole new meaning and you can't explain the feeling to someone who hasn't been where you are standing." Fran smiled at her son. "I'm really proud of you Derek. Life has taken a lot of turns this past month but you've really managed to navigate the waters and you've come out on the other side a stronger person."

"Thanks Mom." Derek said quietly as the two descended the stairs to get the cleaning supplies they would need from the kitchen.

JJ sat in awe of the perfect pink bundle the nurse had just handed her. Her eyes were shut as she slept peacefully, her sister was sleeping in Dave's arms as he sat on the bed next to her.

"Our misfit family is waiting anxiously to meet them, Cara." Dave leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You tell me when you are up for it and I will give them the green light."

"You can go get them Dave. I want them to all be in here when I tell the girls their names." JJ teared up a little and when Dave looked panicked, JJ assured him. "I'm fine Dave, I was just thinking how lucky are girls are to be surrounded by people that love them and will help take care of them for their entire lives."

"We're lucky Cara."

"We are very lucky, David."

A few minutes later, there was a faint knock on the door before everyone streamed into the room. Everyone passed around hand sanitizer and anxiously awaited their turn with the babies.

JJ cleared her throat with a smile. "I know you guys want to see them but I wanted everyone to be here at the same time when the girls heard their names the first time. I know it's kind of cheesy but we are family and families do stuff together." JJ concluded her ramble with a smile and took a deep breath and said, "I would like you to meet Sophia April Rossi and Charlotte Emily Rossi."

Two Weeks Later:

"Emily Prentiss-Hotchner?" The nurse called from the doorway and Emily quickly stood up from her seat in the waiting room and followed the woman down the hallway. After taking her height and weight, she sat in the room and checked her phone again for a text from Hotch.

Nothing.

Emily cursed under her breath in the quiet exam room. The doorknob turned and after a light knock on the door, her doctor appeared in the doorway.

"How are you feeling today, Emily?" Dr Stoy said, her kind eyes and bedside manor made Emily relax instantly.

"Physically, a little tired but emotionally, I'm pissed off. Aaron promised he would meet me here this morning and he hasn't even sent me a text to tell me he was going to be late." Emily smiled sheepishly at the doctor. "That's another thing, I've been speaking my mind _much_ more often than normal. Even when it isn't appropriate."

Dr. Stoy chuckled and said, "Pregnancy affects many hormones in the body and everyone reacts differently. Try to keep it manageable and if it becomes more of an issue we can cross that bridge." Dr. Stoy turned on the sonogram machine next to Emily and said, "Would you like to see your baby?"

"I would love to." Emily smiled, leaned back on the table and lifted her shirt. She took a deep breath when the gel was squirted onto her small baby bump and then she anxiously waited to hear the heartbeat of the baby.

She turned her head to look at the monitor and was immediately worried by the look on Dr. Stoy's face.  
"Dr. Stoy? What's wrong? Is my baby okay?"

"Emily, I'm sorry to worry you. Your baby is fine. Everything looks normal." Dr. Stoy pressed a button by the sink to signal an ultrasound tech as she kept talking to Emily. "How tired have you been feeling on a scale from one to ten?"

"Six, but I've also restricted my caffeine to one cup of coffee a day, I know that's bad but I used to drink 5 so my body is still adjusting."

There was a knock on the door and the ultrasound tech poked her head in. "Hello, my name is Diana. Would you mind if I took a few pictures of your baby? Dr. Stoy doesn't work the camera too well."

"Not at all." Emily readily agreed and waited for Diana to work her magic.

Diana inhaled sharply when she got the picture on the screen and Emily stretched up to look for herself.

"You people are looking at something else. That doesn't look like a baby it looks like something with three air pockets. Can you please call a supervisor and stop freaking out over nothing?" Emily said quickly with frustration until it sunk in a little deeper.

"Emily, I called Diana in because I wanted to be sure I was reading it right." Dr. Stoy paused a minute before continuing. "You are pregnant with three babies."

**ACROSS TOWN:**

April looked up and down the street as the realtor led her and Spencer up the driveway of yet another house. They had toured 3 already this morning and each one felt less right than the last.

"The foyer opens to the dining room and kitchen. The living room, formal dining room and stairs are to your left. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and three baths. The basement downstairs is partially finished with a media room and home office. "The realtor trailed off as she let April and Spencer go past her to explore the house.

"So, what do you think?" April asked as they walked through the kitchen and into the living room.

"I think the crime rates are low, the schools are good, the commute to the FBI is okay." Spencer realized he was rambling and stopped. "What do you think?"

April got quiet for a minute. "I want to live closer to everyone else."

"Okay so somewhere within a 5 mile radius of the rest of the team? I will ask Tara to get a search started." Spencer walked off with a purpose as he explained what they were looking for to their realtor.

Tara did a quick search on her phone and soon the three of them were off in search of a house with great potential.

When they pulled into the driveway, Spencer heard April sigh next to him and he realized that he had just found their house. The house was a remodeled Victorian with yellow siding and white trim. 5 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, two car garage, finished basement and moderately sized back yard, April was in heaven. Spencer was in heaven when he saw the look of wonder and amazement on April's face.

"I love this house." She whispered to him when they were upstairs touring the bedrooms. "It has charm and history. The bedrooms are all on the same floor so we can be close to the kids. The basement would make the perfect playroom, and oh my god! Did you see the dining room? It's perfect! There is a spot for everyone at that table. Tara said the furniture was included right?"

"Yes, the furniture is included, the owners didn't want to bring it with them. The best part about this house is that Rossi and JJ live less than 5 miles away, Emily and Hotch live two streets over and our backyard shares the back fence with Penelope and Derek's house."

"We share a fence! Oh my god, Spence. We have to buy this house, I didn't want to say anything in front of Tara before I talked to you but I'm positive that I want this house now. Can we go talk to her? Get the ball rolling? Do you think there are offers on the table? How long has it been on the market?" April rattled off quickly and Spencer gave up trying to get a word in and just waited her out.

He took her hands in his gently and said, "I already told her. Downstairs I saw how much you loved this house; it was in your eyes. She is drawing up the papers now."

"I love you Spencer Reid." April proclaimed before kissing him fiercely against the doorframe in their soon-to-be new home.

_**AUTHORS NOTE:**__ Thank you very much for reading! I'm sorry for the delay in posting, life has been beyond crazy and rather than post garbage for the sake of posting, I held off and waited until it was good You guys are the best, please let me know what you think with a review! _


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own CM or the characters.

Once Upon A Phone Call

Chapter 21

Emily exhaled loudly as she shut the door behind her and put her keys and pocketbook on the table by the door. She wiped at her eyes and brushed away the remaining mascara away that had run down her face as she cried on the way home. She went into the kitchen and looked for something to do to keep her busy until Aaron got home.

_I can't believe Aaron d__idn't come to the appointment and even worse, he didn't even remember the appointment at all! _Emily started to tear up again but took a deep breath to keep her calm for the benefit of the babies and looked at the clock, 2:34. _Too early to cook dinner, the __sink was void of dishes and the pantry was organized yesterday when I had run out of things to do upstairs. _Emily thought to herself as she pulled the lemonade out of the fridge and poured herself a glass. _Hmm, I could make the brownie bars Jack asked for __last night then I could move some of the lighter things out of the nursery upstairs._ Emily contemplated to herself as she finished her lemonade. After putting her glass in the dishwasher she got to work on the brownies.

**2 hours later:**

Aaron Hotchner whistled to himself as he walked up the driveway. He noticed Emily left before lunch and didn't return to the office, he sent a text to her but after receiving a quick reply that she wasn't feeling up to returning to the office but she was fine and would see him when he got home, he didn't think anything else of it. After finishing his paperwork early, he had sent the team home and then headed home himself. He had no idea of the trap he was about to walk into.

He walked into the house and spied a pile of boxes at the foot of the stairs. _They look like-wait a minute._

"Emily?" He called as he put his briefcase and jacket by the door. "Emily?" He called out again as he climbed the stairs.

"In the nursery," she called back.

He jogged lightly up the stairs and after walking a few feet down the hall to the nursery, he found Emily standing on a stool reaching above her head pulling a much too heavy box off the top shelf.  
"Emily." Hotch said abruptly as he rushed across the room to reach up and pull the box down himself. "You could have hurt yourself or the baby."

"I didn't want to wait for you to get home. You might have _forgot._" Emily said shortly as she huffed and climbed down from the stool and took a seat in the rocking chair by the window. She stubbornly refused to look at him, she didn't want to break down and cry. _Be strong Emily._ She counseled herself. _You wrote it on his work calendar, set an alarm on his phone and you stuck a note in his briefcase this morning. You did everything but physically drag him to__ the appointment with you. _Emily sized up her fiancé, he looked oblivious to the fact that she was ignoring him and he probably didn't even realize that he forgot the ultrasound appointment today either.

Emily huffed out loud before leaving the room and walking down the hall.

Aaron looked up quickly from the box he was sorting and was surprised to see Emily hightail it out of the room. _And what was all the huffing about?_ He wondered. Aaron dropped the photo albums he had in his hands and followed Emily out into the hall and into their bedroom.

Emily heard Aaron follow her but now she was closer to her breaking point and she just needed time to center her emotions again. She ducked into the walk in closet and started to hang up the shirts she had been working on last night. Aaron came into the closet with her and wordlessly started to help. Once the last shirt had been hung, Aaron intentionally blocked the doorway with his body and waited patiently for Emily to talk.

"Get out of the way, Aaron," Emily said, void of emotion.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"The fact that I have to tell you is more proof that you are the problem." She hissed at him.

"That barely made sense." Aaron reached out to touch her and she stepped back from him. "Can we start at the beginning?"

"The beginning, the beginning, let's see. I know. Let's start with last week, last week I told you about the appointment today and I wrote it on your work calendar, I set an alarm on your phone and I stuck a note in your briefcase!" Emily looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Can you tell me why our sonogram appointment wasn't important enough to be remembered by the great SSAIC Aaron Hotchner? I would really _love_ to know!"

Aaron's face went slack. His stomach dropped when he realized that the appointment was in deed this morning instead of tomorrow morning. His memory flashed to seeing it circled on the calendar in his office, his phone wouldn't stop beeping all afternoon and he hadn't opened his briefcase at work today, he had gotten completely wrapped up in new paperwork at his desk and he never seen the note that Emily had put in there.

"Emily." He said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? Would you be sorry that I had to go to the appointment by myself? Sorry that I had to make up lame excuses for you? Or maybe you are only sorry that I'm making a scene now and Jack is going to be home any minute and you want to wrap this up before he gets here?" Emily burst out, now openly crying.

"It's not like that, Emily." Aaron calmly insisted.

"Really? Do you know how I feel right now Aaron? Do you?" Emily cried. "You don't understand how this feels. I feel like I don't matter, like the babies don't matter, like none of it matters to you."

"Em, you know that isn't true. I'm so sorry that- wait a minute. You said babies? What do you mean babies?" Aaron stopped short in his apology as what Emily said sunk in.

"I didn't want to tell you while we were fighting. I wanted to just get over the fact that I went by myself. I tried to bottle my emotions up. I'm sorry you found out like this, but here." Emily walked into the bedroom and found her purse. She handed Hotch a string of photos.

"Three?" Hotch choked out.

"Yup, and at least you found out here. I found out this morning and couldn't call you right away because I couldn't decide whether to be mad at you or not. And I had to tell you before the girls so I couldn't tell anyone. I was going crazy and I just couldn't face you yet. I couldn't decide how I felt and I was just so angry and-" Em was cut off as Aaron quickly made up the distance between them and pulled her in for a searing kiss. After a few moments they both were breathless. Aaron pulled back and brushed away her tears.

"I am beyond sorry for missing the appointment today, Emily. I _swear_ I will never miss another appointment again." Hotch vowed to her and when Emily looked into his eyes, the emotional turmoil she had been feeling was completely gone and she realized Aaron Hotchner was not only telling the truth, but he loved her deep into his core and Emily couldn't think of anything better than that.

"I forgive you but you can make it up to me later." Emily said with a smile as she kissed her fiancé again.

**Garcia-Morgan Residence:**

Penelope Garcia was alone in the middle of chaos. She had 5 hungry and cranky children and dinner was burnt to a crisp in the oven. She looked towards the refrigerator and saw an advertisement for a diner and Penelope Garcia suddenly had an escape plan.  
"Everyone get shoes on." Penelope called out. "Come on guys, we are going out for dinner!" She said enthusiastically.

A few minutes later, Lilly came into the kitchen wearing frog pajama pants, a black and white striped Mickey tshirt and pink cowgirl boots. "Mommy? I can wear this?"

Penelope burst into a smile. "Absolutely lollipop," she said and then looked down at her black top and pink skirt. _I can do better than this,_ she thought to herself as she quickly hurried up the stairs to see what she could find.

Lilly, Grace and Ethan followed her into her closet and watched as Pen found the perfect outfit. Purple boots, black cotton dress, pink shrug for her shoulders and her favorite orange and blue feather barrette for her hair.

"Pretty!" Grace cheered as she clapped her hands with delight.

"I'm glad you think so baby." Penelope picked up Grace and cuddled her close. "Let's get you an outfit too."

"I can help!" Lilly shouted as she ran across the hall to the bedroom she shared with Grace. Grace wiggled to get free and Penelope put her down so she could follow her sister and smiled when Ethan followed in tow.

As Penelope backed up the minivan she proudly thought to herself, _my kids have style._ Lilly had traded in her mickey shirt and frog pants for a pink sequin dress and found an orange one for Grace to wear. Olivia was in polka dot pajamas, Ethan was wearing his chef hat and coat and Noah was in his soccer uniform.

A little while later they pulled into the parking lot and Pen was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't too busy. She got the kids out and was walking in when an older woman with an 8 or 9 year old girl was leaving. The woman rudely sneered as she saw what the kids were wearing; her daughter pointed and said loudly, "What's wrong with them?" Her mother answered, "Well, it's hardly a surprise the children are dressed like that, their mother is only a bigger problem."

"Excuse me?" Penelope loudly asked and waited until the mother turned around to face her before continuing. "Are you insinuating that I am a bad mother because I refuse to put my children in a box and tell them what to wear and how to act? I see what a box did for your parenting skills and I, for one, am not impressed." Penelope turned on her heel and led the children into the restaurant, leaving the stunned mother and daughter in the parking lot.

**1 week later:**

"Noooahhh," Pen called up the stairs. "We are going to be late for soccer practice if we don't leave in the next 60 seconds.

Derek walked into the room and burst into a smile. "Is Noah taking his time again, baby girl?"

"He sure is buttercup, I have no idea where he learned it from." Penelope said with a smile in a heavy laced sarcastic tone.

Derek mocked being wounded. "When are you going to let that go, Mama? It was one time." Derek defended himself as he remembered an evening a few weeks back where he and Pen had been almost out the door when he realized he had put on two mismatched socks. He hurried upstairs to change but had taken too long because Pen had organized the drawers and neglected to tell him his socks were now in the closet and as a result they had missed their reservations at the restaurant.

"Don't worry sugar plum, Mama is plenty happy with your other skills. You don't have to be good at time management too." Pen stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Maybe you can demonstrate your proficiency in other area's when the kids are sleeping tonight?" Penelope whispered.

"Oh baby girl, I will surpass your expectations." Derek whispered back and then pulled Pen in for a searing kiss.

Later that night, Derek proved to Penelope that he was the perfect man, even if he liked his socks to match before leaving the house.

**A FEW DAYS LATER:**

After falling into bed a mere 15 minutes earlier, JJ was awakened. She squinted across the room to check the time as she was awoken yet again by the cries coming from the nursery across the hall. 2:42am. _You have got to be kidding me! That's the fourth time in the past hour!_ JJ thought to herself as she tried to muster up the required energy to get her body out of bed. She turned her head to the right and was startled to see the bed empty.

"Dave?" She called out softly. When she got no response, she called again as she entered the hall. Hearing nothing but cries from the babies, she went into the nursery.

Pale purple walls with pink accents, it was a little girl's dream room. She peered into one of the white sleigh cribs and saw that Sophia had become un-swaddled. After fixing the blanket, checking on Charlotte in the next crib over and shushing her baby back to sleep; JJ went off in search of her husband. She heard hushed voices coming from Henry's room and went closer to investigate.

"Daddy, I no feel good." Henry said tearfully.

"I'm sure you don't little man." Dave said consolingly. "Let's get you cleaned up and some new blankets for your bed and we will try to settle you in bed again, okay?"

"Okay, daddy." Henry quietly agreed. Dave got to work, stripping the bed.

"Daddy, I going throw up-" Henry barely rushed out before the little boy threw up all over the rug and Dave's pants. From her spot in the doorway, JJ inhaled sharply, torn between laughing and sympathizing with her husband, she settled for walking into the room and making her presence known.

"It's okay baby." JJ said softly as she came into the room. Both Dave and Henry looked towards JJ as she walked in and both felt calmed by her presence. "Are you okay, buddy?" JJ asked as she knelt in front of her son. Feeling his head, she looked up at Dave. "He's burning up," she said quietly. "How about a bath, Henry? How does that sound?" JJ said soothingly and smiled when her son nodded his agreement.

"I can have bath at night night time?" Henry asked with wonder.

"Yes buddy, but only this once to get your belly to settle." JJ smiled at her little boy, a spitting image of herself.

"Luke warm, right cara?" Dave said quietly and when JJ looked up at him and nodded, he continued. "Go get some sleep babe. The girls are going to have to eat again in a couple of hours and you're the only one that can do that."

JJ looked at him with reluctance. "What if he needs me?"

"I've got it, Jenn." Dave said softly then kneeled in front of their son. "Henry, will you be okay with daddy? Mommy needs to take care of your baby sisters and needs her rest." Dave asked gently.

Henry nodded, "I love you mommy but you hafta rest now."

JJ quietly laughed and kissed Henry on his forehead. She looked at Dave and said quietly, "Any more vomiting or if his fever gets any worse, you come and get me. I mean it David." She eyed him with a no-nonsense look. Dave knew if he didn't comply, his wife would kick his butt.

Dave smiled at the fierceness in which his wife protected Henry. "I promise babe. Go get some sleep." He leaned in, kissed her gently and sent her to bed as he carried their son to the bathroom and got to work.


	22. Chapter 22

**Authors Note: I am so sorry for the lack of regular updates. I have no excuse other than life got in the way, writer's block took over and I didn't want to put a chapter on here that wasn't good just for the sake of putting up something. I'm both embarrassed and I feel guilty that it took me so long to post a new chapter. We have witnessed the BAU team through many up and downs and I conclude this story with both enthusiasm and remorse. I'm going to miss writing this story but I think it is for the best. However; as Phone Call comes to a close, I have many ideas of possible sequels that involve the kids and I will working on them to see what comes from it.**

**Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your support, reviews, alerts and favorites! You guys are awesome! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own CM *sadly* **

Once Upon A Phone Call

Chapter 22:

Penelope sighed with content. It was two days before Christmas, everyone was spending the holiday at her house and her house was bursting with cheer. The dining table had reached its capacity and had current seating for 14. Derek had rented tables and chairs to provide enough seats for everyone. Even Derek's sisters had flown in from Chicago to share the holiday with them. Emily had given birth 6 weeks ago and all 3 babies were healthy enough to go home with Emily from the hospital. Everyone would be spending the next 4 days at her house and Penelope couldn't be happier.

Smiling, she ran a hand over her very prominent belly as her twins did their daily water acrobatics. Hearing the timer or for the oven begin to ding, she carefully took out the pies and sniffed the air gratefully.

"Mhm, what smells good mama?" Derek said with a grin as he walked into the kitchen.

"Derek Morgan, did you remember to take off your boots at the back door? You know mama can't cook her famous cherry pie if she is busy cleaning up after you." She playfully scolded him.

"I'm sorry baby girl; I got sidetracked by smell of the pie. How do you make it smell that amazing?" Derek asked, practically drooling over the pie that was cooling on the counter in front of him.

"My lips are sealed, stud muffin. But feel free to try and tempt me to tell you by any means you find necessary." She said saucily.

"The kids are having a snowball fight in the yard, Olivia is sleeping, April and Spencer are supervising, that gives us what 5 maybe 7 minutes." Derek reasoned quietly as he crept closer to Penelope.

"Then I guess we better make our seconds count." She replied before stretching up to kiss him. The happy couple kissed over and over again as their kids played in the backyard and their Aunt and Uncle watched over them.

EPILOGUE:

Penelope is having boy-girl twins. (Benjamin Derek Morgan and Danielle Fran Morgan)

Emily is having two girls and one boy. (Emily Hayley Hotchner, Abigail Hayley Hotchner and William Spencer Hotchner) After the babies are born, Emily quits the BAU and takes a position teaching Criminal Behavior and Psychology at Georgetown.

JJ finds out she is pregnant again a few months after the girls turn one, it is a boy (Nicholas David Rossi) after giving birth, she promptly sent David to get a vasectomy.

Two years after the triplets are born, April and Spencer adopt two boys, Ryan and Matthew out of the foster care system. Ryan and Matthew are biological brothers and are 5 and 8 when adopted by April and Spencer; both biological parents were killed in a robbery.

After JJ finds out she is pregnant again, Dave switches to only writing books part time and consulting out of Quantico so he can spend more time with the kids at home. JJ keeps working full time but only leaves on the worst cases, spending most of her time at Quantico close to her kids.

Penelope eventually runs the entire Technology Department at Quantico and Derek is promoted to Unit Chief when Aaron is promoted further up the ladder to take Strauss' position. Fran lives with Penelope and Derek and eventually Derek's sisters move to VA to be close to their family too. Fran, (with the help of 2 full time nannies) keeps a close eye over all of the BAU kids and the kids grow up together.

***I hope you enjoyed my story***


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